MAXIMUM SECURITY WARD

PRESIDENT of the TT Registered Nurses Association, Idi Stuart, wants a high security ward at the Port of Spain General Hospital, guarded by police officers for high risk patients, after the murder of Dejean Broker on Tuesday night.

In a telephone interview with Newsday on Wednesday, Stuart said some people have no respect for security guards. He said patients who were being treated for injuries or wounds arising from some criminal activity, ought to be placed on the specialised ward. The recommendation was made to the Ministry of Health and the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) who Stuart met.

Police said Broker, 25, of Hillview, Laventille, was shot dead while recuperating a day after he underwent surgery for stab wounds to the chest and shoulders. They said the killers put on white hazmat suits, which are worn by hospital staff at times, and shot Broker whose bed – like five other patients – was near a window. The killers never entered the ward, but shot Broker from the corridors outside. Police and hospital staff dismissed the notion that Broker was not the target of the gunmen saying the rumour that there was a bed swap hours before the killing is not true.

Stuart said Tuesday’s killing was “no unusual event” as there were other attacks in the hospital over the years. A doctor, who wished not to be identified, recalled three other instances where gunmen came on the compound.

“We recommend the removal of all security companies and replace them with MTS security, or do like the South-West Regional Health Authority who employ their own security which seems to be working. We also need to reduce the entry and exit points.”

He added: “The unit needs to be a walled-off unit with a single entry point. We have to change the way we do business. This is not the first and not the last.”

In December 2001, Ronald Isaac, 33, of Cocorite was murdered by three masked men who walked into the hospital, then with far less security, and shot him. Isaac was at hospital after he was kidnapped and taken to Malick, Barataria where he was shot and left for dead. If Stuart’s plan recommendation is implemented, Isaac’s case will be a prime example of the type of patient who should be placed on the high-risk ward.

Stuart said he had previous conversations with the police and was told that owing to a manpower shortage, there could not be a police post at the hospital but there would be routine patrols.

“Nurses have been (doing the work of) security guards at the hospital as well, and I have to commend them. In the old building, the killers would have had to walk around looking for their target which would have given the nurses time to assess and see if there is any danger. Because they work with high-risk patients, they develop that awareness. But, as it is now, the killers just walked in from the car park with little security checkpoints.”

Newsday was told that some of the nurses sensed that something was wrong in relation to Broker and notified their superiors. Newsday was unable to confirm what, if anything, was done with that information. The nurses who were on duty were given three days’ sick leave and have been offered counselling.

Chairman of the NWRHA, Lisa Agard, said the counselling will be done by staff at the St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital. Patients who are affected are also going to receive counselling, she said, as the NWRHA looks at ways to improve security.

“There is a considerable amount of security, inclusive of CCTV cameras, which we will augment as best we can without breaching patients’ privacy. We will also be working closer with the police in terms of response to threats, and have real time 24/7 CCTV coverage.

Stuart commended the nurses who went to work on Wednesday morning as the crime scene was still visible, according to him. Newsday was told that the nurses – one of whom is pregnant – who were on duty were traumatised.

Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh sought to raise the issue in Parliament on Wednesday as a “definite matter of urgent public importance” but the motion was shut down by House Speaker Brigid Annisette-George who said it did not meet the threshold under the standing order.

Gopeesingh said: "The matter is definite because it relates to the murder of a patient at Ward 3 of the Port of Spain General Hospital on November 26, 2019. The matter is urgent because newspaper reports have indicated that hospital staff are fearful and expecting further public assassination attempts at the hospital, while present healing patients and visitors are experiencing trauma and panic. The matter is of public importance because such a crime having been carried out at the public hospital has placed the lives of all patients and employees at risk."

On November 19, the Prime Minister turned the sod for the construction of a 13-storey building to replace the hospital’s central block which was condemned last year after an earthquake. At the time, the thought of a high-risk unit was not discussed. The new building will cost $1.2 billion and have 540 beds, a coronary unit, a six-bed plastic surgery unit and provide medical, psychiatric, paediatric and ancillary services.