Getting hospitals right

Health Minister Dr Lackram Bodoe is sending positive signals about hospital facilities, particularly in his emphasis on the reopening of the Couva Children's Hospital and ensuring that the Central Block of the Port of Spain (PoS) General Hospital becomes fully operational.

The Couva facility did not find favour with the incoming PNM government in 2015 and the $1.3 billion hospital was mothballed amid accusations that it was unready for use – which the opposition hotly contested – and the facility remained closed until 2020.

That's when the Ministry of Health discovered it has a facility that could be quickly repurposed to manage surging covid19 cases.

Politics has tended to drive the emphasis on development of infrastructure for far too long in TT, but this country cannot afford to spend billions and then fail to make effective use of medical facilities.

The Couva Children's Hospital was designed to house 230 beds for a combination of children and adults with an emphasis on intensive care and paediatric services for children.

The new PoS Central Block will have 540 beds with 66 beds dedicated to paediatric patients, 15 paediatric intensive care unit beds and 13 paediatric high dependence unit beds.

During a tour to mark the functional completion of the PoS facility, former health minister Terrence Deyalsingh spoke of decentralising public sector medical health, noting the presence of 26 beds in a psychiatric ward. This remains an eminently sensible approach to public sector health care.

While the capital city has long needed an upgrade to its infrastructure and capacity to respond to the demands placed on it, effective, well-equipped and accessible medical care should be available to every citizen within a reasonable distance of their home districts.

Dr Bodoe would be sensible to prioritise the establishment of the Couva Children's Hospital as a real option for serious medical cases while ensuring that completion works proceed with dispatch on the Central Block.

He has also noted issues with the San Fernando General and Teaching Hospitals that need to be addressed.

Mr Deyalsingh hoped to have the first intake of patients at the Central Block in July, and having more properly staffed, upgraded medical facilities available to the public would represent a robust and tangible commitment to the people of TT.

It remains unclear whether the Couva hospital should be dedicated to childcare, but a transparent case evaluating the need for that emphasis would do much to dispel the clouds of uncertainty about its designation.

There's no question, though, that these two modern care facilities would represent a significant improvement in public sector health.

A robust follow-up assessing the other public health facilities would underline the new government's commitment to an improved public health sector.