The original article can be found in: Trinidad Guardian By Geisha Kowlessar
Many administrators at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital were taken by surprise yesterday as Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan conducted an extensive tour of the facility to get a first-hand view of the problems plaguing the institution and to implement possible solutions. According to the minister, much to the contradiction and complaints of the general public, conditions at the hospital “isn’t that bad. “I was inside. It’s not that bad. It is rundown. It is an old building and what we need to do is refurbish the internal structure,” Khan said.
Asked if he would describe the building as deplorable, the minister maintained that was not the case. Plans to improve the heath facility Khan said was initially to acquire a master plan and to refurbish the internal structure to make it “user-friendly and more comfortable.” Asked if there was a master plan already in existence and if not why hasn’t one been produced previously, Khan said: “Believe it or not there is none. I have asked for a master plan of Port-of-Spain General Hospital and I have asked for a master plan of the San Fernando General Hospital.
“Before anything is built I want a plan that would last about 20 years,” Khan added. As he began the tour, one female staff member was also startled that the media was invited, remarking: “You think this could happen when Jerry (former health minister Jerry Narace) was here. This should never be.” Khan, however, strongly defended his position to invite the media on the tour, insisting he “had nothing to hide” and there were future plans “to open the doors of all medical institutions” to the media.
He added: “I want to open up the institutions to the media. It is not going to be a secret any more. “I want the media to assist me with bringing the problems to the fore and nobody can hide them… I’m not afraid.” He said the reason for the visit stemmed from numerous complaints that the hospital’s central block was in a state of disrepair to the point where there was need to demolish it with immediate effect, based on the possibility of it collapsing and creating a disaster.
He said: “I have decided to walk because of the constant complaints to see for myself exactly what is the problem and asked the staff who has been there for years if there is a problem. “That’s why I started on the fifth floor because I understand the fifth floor was supposed to be leaning.” Saying the building was “not going to collapse tomorrow,” as was told, Khan said there was need for a structural assessment of building.
He added: “We do have a couple of structural work to do, especially on Ward 32, and the Project Management Unit has indicated we could move the patients out of Ward 32 and work on that problem.” There was also a possibility of a leak within the walls but the Health Minister assured that request for proposals would be sent out for a structural engineering firm would assess how the problem could be fixed.
He admitted, however, that the process of contracting a firm was previously done but added there was “nothing concrete” as information was relayed “back-and-forth.” Once the problem was cited, Khan said patients would then be “decanted,” so that the building could either be demolished or refurbished.
