By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH Minister Dr Duane Sands said yesterday the government intends to recruit medical professionals on a voluntary basis to assist Dominica.

Dr Sands told The Tribune he was distressed by the negative feedback on social media to the country’s humanitarian efforts, adding that the derisive commentary has exposed an ugly facet of Bahamian identity.

He said officials were still conceptualising how best to facilitate the pledge by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis to send physicians to the devastated Caribbean island, adding it was likely professionals would be allowed to utilise vacation time for the mission.

“Now we have to flesh out what is possible,” he said. “We’ll open it up to any doctor, any nurse, any paramedic in the country. There are some Bahamians who will give the shirt off their back to somebody in need, unlike some people who believe it is only about them.

“I’m just distressed (by social media outcry) that this is who we are, we’re better than this.”

He continued: “Certainly while you can pay attention to print and radio, for better or worse social media has a significant influence in our thinking. To deny that, is like being an ostrich and sticking your head in the sand. When you see it and hear it, and hear it spoken publicly, it’s like really?”

Following a tour of Dominica on Monday, Dr Minnis announced the Bahamas would increase its initial offer to accept Dominican students wishing to complete their studies and also provide physicians to the storm ravaged island. Dominica’s schools and medical facilities were extensively damaged by Hurricane Maria.

Dr Sands said: “I think we have a duty to assist wherever we can. Once the challenge was made known to me to try and identify resources, what we are basically doing is conceptualising the approach, which will be primarily voluntary to allow individuals who might want to assist, to facilitate the leave time so they can make a contribution to the cause.

“Obviously we have staff with particular skill sets, whether emergency medicine, surgery, psychiatry, paramedics. Some of those have accrued vacation time so we can facilitate it and assist with getting down there.

“This is not five-star accommodations, this is a hardship post. You don’t have running water, electricity, not the best meals, anybody who volunteers for this type of thing clearly is doing it out of an abundance of concern for humanity.”

He added: “It’s one of the reasons I’m so distressed at the level of conversation. This is a democracy and people are entitled to their opinions but I find it interesting when you see the response about an offer to identify medical personnel to travel to an area where the hospital has been wiped out, where medical staff have probably been working nonstop for almost two weeks and maybe themselves at a breaking point.

“Sometimes if we can go lend a helping hand for a day, two days, three days, it can allow them to recharge their batteries and start the fight again.

“For them (Dominican medical professionals) they have no place left, this is home,” Dr Sands said.

Meanwhile Dr Minnis appealed to Bahamians for empathy after he and his delegation visited the CARICOM member country and witnessed the devastation firsthand. He told media at Jet Aviation on Monday night that the trauma from the monster storm was still very visible on the faces of the Dominican people despite their resolve to return the country to a state of normalcy.

Yesterday, Dr Sands was asked to comment on concerns over the country’s own healthcare challenges, particularly at the Princess Margaret Hospital.

“We can spare it,” he said.

“I don’t think you can relate the challenges that people have in the emergency room at PMH for instance, to a manpower issue. It is a much more complex issue. It speaks to infrastructure, it speaks to lack of bed space, it speaks to availability of diagnostic and therapeutic services, nursing complements, a number of things, and when we think about it, it also speaks to an inappropriate model of healthcare delivery where many people come to the emergency room that ought not be there.”

Dr Sands said the government has already taken steps to “decompress” PMH by redeploying additional resources to clinics like the Elizabeth Estates facility, which he noted was now open until 11pm.

“To say I waited three, four, eight, ten hours at an emergency room at PMH and therefore until that waiting time is cut down there is nobody who should open their hearts to someone who is in grave need, I think that’s a non-sequitur. I don’t think that is a logical conclusion, it’s an emotive conclusion. I acknowledge it, understand it, appreciate it but I can say that we have to ensure that the conversation is elevated to a different level.”

Dr Sands told The Tribune yesterday a major pharmaceutical company had already given a significant donation of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals.