Health Minister visits Berbice hospitals…Probe ordered into $25M spent on curtains, window blinds
Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, on Wednesday visited a few health institutions in Berbice as he continues country wide familiarization tours.
Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton at one of the health centre in Berbice
The Minister spent the entire day visiting the National Psychiatric Hospital at Fort Canje, the nearby Berbice Regional Health Authority and the state of the art New Amsterdam Hospital.
The Ministry, who was accompanied by Permanent Secretary, Leslie Cadogan, was appalled at what he saw. He expressed his utter disgust at the state of National Psychiatric Hospital. The place is in a disgraceful state and an investigation is to be launched.
What was even more distressing was the state of the storeroom. The place was in a mess. Hundreds of items and material that were said to be in short supply and not in stock, were found in the stores. Some were destroyed, unpacked and even spoiled and rotten.
Items such as bed sheets were in abundance and recently there was a shortage at the hospital. The hospitals regularly suffer from shortage of milk which turned out to be in abundance in the storerooms. Pampers were also found in piles while the hospitals had none. Recently, the hospital was distributing tables that were soft and would crush easily.
What took the Minister by surprise was the number of new car jacks that were found in the bond. He wondered why such items were in abundance in the storage.
A new generator that was bought allegedly to be used at the New Amsterdam Hospital since last year was also found under wraps.
The Minister on a visit to the New Amsterdam Hospital, toured the various sections of the health institution. He also heard a plethora of complaints from nurses and doctors at the medical institution.
During the discourse with the doctors, Permanent Secretary Leslie Cadogan said that he will immediately launch an investigation into reports that over $25M was spent by the Berbice Regional Health Authority (BRHA) to purchase curtains and blinds for the New Amsterdam and Port Mourant Hospitals during 2014.
This disclosure was made in the presence of Dr. Norton, the doctors, other medical personnel and the media.
