Morris: Roxborough Hospital could have saved mother, baby if opened

HAD the Roxborough Hospital been in operation, the lives of Nadea Shanghie and her newborn baby could have been saved.

THA Minority Leader Kelvon Morris made this claim on May 27 at a media conference at his office in Scarborough.

Morris said, from his understanding and based on the diagnosis, the pair died because of the distance from Speyside to Scarborough.

"By the time the mother arrived at Scarborough, it was merely impossible for there to be any lifesaving intervention, medical intervention.”

He said had the Roxborough Hospital been up and running, from the timelines and the proximity to Speyside, that would have allowed Shanghie and her baby to be saved.

They died on May 14 and 15.

“I want to cry shame on the Secretary of Health – a secretary that is from the east. I want to cry shame on the chief secretary – a man from Speyside, a man from the east.

"They have failed the people of the east by failing to operationalise something that was gifted to them on a platter. To this day, the secretary without just cause is unable to open fully and operationalise fully the Roxborough Hospital.”

He said he was even more concerned because the THA administration was asking for funding for the Roxborough Hospital for medical professionals, but, he claimed, was using the funds it received for other purposes.

He said the people of the east should decide.

“Your healthcare is not important to your very own people – your very own secretary of health, who is a daughter of Belle Garden, and your very own chief secretary, who is a son of Speyside. I cry shame on both Mr Farley Augustine and the Secretary of Health, Dr Faith BYisrael.”

A press release on Monday from the Division of Health, Wellness and Social Protection said an investigation into the deaths of Shanghie of Speyside, and her newborn baby, had determined doctors and staff at the Scarborough General Hospital did everything they could to save their lives.Morris called for an independent investigation, saying the family needed closure, and the TRHA cannot exonerate itself.