The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

NEW modular units at the Rand Memorial Hospital were officially commissioned as the Specialty Pathogens Unit on Wednesday, addressing capacity demands for emergency healthcare at Grand Bahama Health Services.

Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Michael Darville said the opening of the units will help manage patient load challenges at the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department.

“Today, we are pleased the units are running so residents can benefit from these units purchased a year and a half ago by the Public Hospitals Authority,” he said. “We had some setbacks with the units, but they have been corrected. Patients will have an excellent experience, and doctors will not have to work in cramped spaces.”

Managing director of the Public Hospitals Authority Dr Aubynette Rolle said emergency healthcare workers will relocate to the Specialty Pathogens Unit while the existing A&E unit undergoes significant repairs.

“The SPU was designed to help with overflow in the emergency room and to manage infectious diseases,” she said. “The existing emergency room needs extensive repairs. The beauty of today is that our physicians and nurses can transfer over to the modular units and function as a full emergency unit while we fix the existing emergency room.”

She added: “If they have issues related to infectious diseases, we now have the space to minimise exposure to patients and employees.”

Dr Rolle also confirmed that the physiotherapy department has relocated to the new modular units and is operating smoothly.

Dr Darville also expressed satisfaction with the progress of the new $200m Freeport Health Campus, which is proceeding on schedule.

“We had the opportunity to tour part of the Freeport campus,” he said. “We are out of the ground and getting ready for vertical construction. We intend to complete a turnkey for phases 1a and 1b by June of next year.”

He said in the coming months, officials expect to go to tender for a multi-storey complex, which is the second phase of the project.

“Residents can rest assured that we are committed to completing this facility, so we can deliver the new tertiary healthcare institution that Grand Bahama has been promised for many years,” Dr Darville said.

He emphasised that the new hospital would complement the work being done at RMH and provide additional services, including an oncology centre that the PLP administration promised during its last term in office in 2016.

Dr Darville also addressed other challenges in Grand Bahama.

“We learned about a facility in McLean’s Town,” he said. “I saw a report in the newspaper today, and it was unnecessary. It is on our radar. The initial work was done, the AC system was repaired, and what was reported as severe mould is being investigated.”

Dr Darville indicated that renovations will soon begin on the clinic for residents in Grand Cay and the unit providing ophthalmology services in Grand Bahama.

In West End, he reported that work has already been carried out at the clinic, with similar efforts planned for the Eight Mile Rock and Hawksbill clinics.

The minister also addressed the issue of ambulance shortages, confirming that some have already arrived in the country.

“Residents can rest assured that we promised ambulances, and we have 12 to 15 en route from Spain,” he said. “We heard some of them have arrived, but they did not come on one ship. Two other ships are en route.”

He said the ambulances will be deployed to New Providence, Grand Bahama, and the Family Islands.