The Tribune

By Earyel Bowleg

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A GROUNDBREAKING ceremony for a new Grand Bahama hospital will take place next month, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said yesterday.

He told Parliamentarians earlier this month that the Ministry of Health’s architects and engineers completed the first phase of the new Grand Bahama hospital’s design, adding that a request for proposal to construct the hospital would be released this month.

He said a loan from the World Bank would help construct the new hospital.

The Rand Memorial Hospital sustained significant damage during Hurricane Dorian in 2019. The hospital exists in what experts classified as a low-lying area, making it susceptible to flooding in the future.

Dr Darville has said he wants a hospital in Grand Bahama that can withstand a Category 5 hurricane.

“There are still two good (operating) theatres at the Rand that we would have to use,” he said last year.

“So, it would not be decommissioned but it would not be used as a tertiary healthcare facility.”

His comment about the looming groundbreaking ceremony for a hospital in Grand Bahama followed the first Public Hospitals Authority Academy graduation ceremony that recognised people who completed the training programmes as emergency medical technicians and patient advocates.

The graduates of the EMT programme will provide life-saving care as first responders in the Family Islands.

Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis encouraged the graduating group.

“Not everyone can do what you do because everything you do matters. It matters on every emergency call. It matters when you are called to provide medical transport for patients,” he said.

“It even matters when you show up to one of our public schools to speak to students, demonstrating your vehicles and equipment to raise awareness about your profession for future generations of EMTs.”

“Likewise, for patient advocates, your job matters. You are called to be a beacon of hope in the dark turmoil of a patient’s worst experiences.”