The Government of The Bahamas is poised to invest almost $200 million dollars in the infrastructural expansion and improvement of the country’s hospitals beginning later this month.

The expansion process is expected to take place over a two-year period and will include an $18 million investment in an Electronic Medical Records System – considered the “most modern health information system” available in the Developed World; a $17 million investment in upgrades and expansions to the Maternity Ward at the Princess Margaret Hospital that will almost triple the space currently in use by Maternity Ward and Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Expansions and upgrades to the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department at the Princess Margaret Hospital are also on the drawing board that will bring the Department in line with A&E facilities and services in Developed Countries along with the implementation of a 24-Hour Patient Advocacy Service.

Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) Managing Director Herbert Brown said, September 5, at a Nursing diploma programme launch at PHA, the introduction of the Health Information System will allow public health officials to address one of the significant areas of transformation in the public healthcare system “with regards to the intermittently inadequate quantities of pharmaceuticals in our hospitals and clinics.”

The new system will provide the Public Hospitals Authority with the opportunity to be able to track every pharmaceutical item - from distribution from its new main warehouse (to be established on Shirley Street) to the hospitals or any other point of dispensing to patients.

“This will allow us to top-up the minimum order level of drugs without having to wait for a request from the wards or clinics,” Mr. Brown said. “To carry out this agenda, a new pharmaceutical top-up Unit will be established at the Princess Margaret Hospital and subsequently at the Rand Memorial Hospital resulting in a more efficient method of maintaining the required inventory.”

Mr. Brown said the contract for the upgrades and expansions to the Maternity Ward at the Princess Margaret Hospital is expected to be executed within the next two weeks and that the works are expected to result in significant benefits to the delivery of patient care at the country’s tertiary public healthcare institution, while further improving medical outcomes.

The upgrades/expansions will also address working conditions for staff.

“If you were to visit the Maternity Ward of the Princess Margaret Hospital today, you would notice that there are cramped conditions for patients; inadequate space; that the working conditions for our staff is less than adequate and. Being able to expand the space to bring our Maternity Ward up to international standards – which requires that you have a certain amount of space between each bed -- for the first time in the history of the Princess Margaret Hospital, is going to be a significant factor,” Mr. Brown said.

Public Hospitals Authority Managing Director Herbert Brown.  (BIS Photo/Patrick Hanna)

The expansion/upgrades will also allow for the construction of two, additional state-of-the-art operating theatres.

“What this means is that we will be able to move from seven operating theatres to nine operating theatres at the Princess Margaret Hospital,” Mr. Brown said. “This will allow for services that might be required in the Maternity Ward -- rather than having to go to the Main Operating Theatre -- those procedures can be done on the Maternity Ward. This is also going to be very significant.

“Additionally, we would have almost tripled the space that the Maternity and Obs and Gynae (Obstetrics and Gynaecology) will have and so that too is going to be very significant.”

One of the other areas to be significantly impacted by the expansion/upgrades is the Accident and Emergency Department – the Gateway to the Princess Margaret Hospital.

The expansion/upgrades to the A&E Department will bring the Department in line with the Government of The Bahamas’ vision for a modern day Accident and Emergency Department.

“We have had many, many challenges, and the Accident and Emergency which today is certainly not designed for what is expected of healthcare in this modern Bahamas, will be significantly transformed. In fact, the tender for A &E is out and we expect the analysis of the tender to be completed shortly. Once that is done we will move expeditiously to begin the construction after formal approval,” Mr. Brown said.

“The Government of The Bahamas has already acknowledged that this is a significant priority for the public healthcare system and we expect this to be an A&E that is going to be on par with the Developed World,” positively impacting, he said, doctor/patient interaction and registration, among other improvements, and ensuring a degree of privacy.

The Plan also calls for 24-Hour Patient Advocacy.

“When you walk into the doors of the Accident and Emergency Department going forward, and at the completion of these efforts, one of the first persons you will see will be a Patient Advocate who will ensure that patients are guided through the Accident and Emergency and any other area they may need to go. That is going to be significant as well,” Mr. Brown added.

By Matt Maura

Bahamas Information Services