Pointing to several outstanding issues plaguing clinics throughout the country, Minister of Health Dr. Duane Sands yesterday suggested that the government is unable to facilitate much-needed repairs to public health facilities, or even pay its health services vendors.
"When I go to the Coconut Grove Clinic today the roof is leaking buckets and the people are working in that environment, and we can't find $70,000 to fix the roof," said Sands while on the Guardian Radio talk show "Morning Blend" with Dwight Strachan.
"The Princess Margaret Hospital has 67 beds taken out of commission because there was no money to finish the contracted works.
"Vendors are threatening to pull medication and vaccine supplies to the Public Hospitals Authority because bills haven't been paid and here we are balling, sending contract to this one and contract to that one, it doesn't make sense."
Sands insisted that the government has to be careful of its spending and once again pointed to the millions of dollars in contracts the Christie administration spent on clinics in Cat Island, Rum Cay & San Salvador.
"While we have to be mindful of how we spend the precious few pennies that we have, it becomes extremely important that we do not waste and that is why the discussion has arisen over the peculiar commitment to spend $10 million for clinics in Cat Island," he said.
"When we look at the utilization of healthcare facilities by Bahamians, the average Nassuvian goes to the doctor one time per year, on average, some go more, some go less.
"The average family islander goes three times per year.
"Now people in Cat Island for some reason go 5.6 times per year.
"Despite that, when you look at the number of clinics proposed, we would have a $6.5 million facility which would see, on average, six patients a day.
"...Even if you were to say that we were having five and a half visits per patient, per year, and you are considering visitors and so on and so forth, when you are looking at those clinics now, including the one for $6 million, and you add security and landscaping and janitorial services, those clinics would be seeing, on average, one patient per hour.
"There is no way that we can say that, that is justifiable now or later."
Sands said that when plans for the Cat Island clinics were being drawn up, the technical department of the public health team, "vigorously protested" with the Christie administration that they did not believe it was needed, because they could provide adequate, excellent healthcare with better home care and better transportation.
He added, "So even if you build two out of the three or one out of the three, and you provide adequate transportation, you can achieve the same thing but without exposing the Bahamian people to added debt."
Sands said because of budget constraints the government is looking at the clinic contracts to see if it is fair or reasonable to follow through with the projects.
He suggested that it may make more sense to provide staff in Cat Island "a couple of jeeps or ambulances" to drive some of the people up and down throughout Cat Island to get them to the clinic.
"There has to be a process because you don't want to make arbitrary, capricious decisions," he said.
"You want to make decisions based on the evidence.
"Because, as you can remember, the member for San Salvador, Rum Cay and Cat Island [Philip Brave Davis] is going to cry bloody murder, as he has done already.
"This is not about politics, this is about protecting Bahamian people."

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