Bodoe: Children’s hospital, PoSGH central block top priorities

THE reopening of the Couva Children’s Hospital and the opening of the incomplete Central Block at the Port of Spain General Hospital (PoSGH) are among two priority items on the radar of Health Minister Dr Lackram Bodoe.

Bodoe said a site visit is being planned to the Children’s Hospital at Couva for a review and determination of its future use.

Bodoe told the Newsday, the visit would enable an assessment of its current condition, following which, a decision would be made as to how best it can serve taxpayers when it is reopened.

An audit of the equipment, some which allegedly “disappeared,” is also expected to be done. Incubators, neonatal resuscitation equipment, audible and signal light alarms, hygiene and infection control areas and 24 infant bassinets were initially contained in the facility.

The $1.3 billion flagship hospital was built and opened under Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on August 14, 2015, in her first term as prime minister under a People’s Partnership government, weeks before she lost the general election.

The facility was intended to house a 230-bed child and adult hospital, a burns care and plastic surgery centre as well as an intensive care unit, paediatric and adult outpatient services, women’s services such as birthing and endoscopy along with a pharmacy. It was also scheduled to be a multi-training facility for nursing, pharmacology and optometry, outfitted with a helipad as medical tourism was part of the vision.

The then Persad-Bissessar administration claimed it was ready for use, but this was disputed by the People’s National Movement (PNM) administration when it won the election.

Since the PP’s loss in 2015, the use of the hospital has been in contention. It remained closed under the former PNM government until its reopening to treat covid19 patients during the pandemic. Former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley also revealed different arrangements to rebrand it as a first-world hospital and medical training facility.

Over the years the UNC has been calling for the hospital to be reopened to its original use, especially after the April 2024 death of babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the PoSGH.

At a news briefing on April 19, 2024, Persad-Bissessar, then opposition leader, stated, “Had this (PNM) government opened it on time many lives would have been saved.”

Dr Bodoe said his first day on the job on May 5 was cordial. He said he was welcomed by the Permanent Secretary and other staff during an introductory walk.

“I have requested information regarding the ministry’s financial situation, including outstanding payments due to suppliers.”

A former chairman of the South West Regional Health Authority, Bodoe said he has also requested the waiting list for surgeries, procedures and clinic appointments.