By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net 

FRANKLIN Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse, travelled to Grand Bahama on Friday where he visited the tent field hospital that his organisation is operating in Freeport.

 Health Minister Dr Duane Sands met Mr Graham on his arrival at the facility, which has provided medical care to thousands here on the island while the flood-damaged Rand Memorial Hospital is being renovated. 

 Samaritan Purse, an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organisation, arrived in early September following the passage of Hurricane Dorian, setting up a 40-bed field hospital, near the Rand. 

To date, some 8,000 Bahamians have received medical care at the facility. 

Mr Graham, a well-known international Christian Evangelist, said that he was watching as the hurricane hit the Bahamas and stalled. 

 “We saw that it stalled, and we knew the destruction that would be underneath that storm. And so, we weren’t quite sure exactly what we could do. But when we came here, we saw the hospital and the need for the people to have medical care, and the Ministry of Health opened the doors and did everything they could to assist us,” he said. 

 “Our goal is to help people of the Bahamas with healthcare. And it does my heart so much good to see the hospital used, and that people are being treated and helped. As a Christian organisation, we do this in Jesus’ name and we want to give Him the glory and honour.”

 Mr Graham said that working with the government has been an easy and smooth process for Samaritan’s Purse.   

 “We are just so grateful for the minister and the government. Some countries you go into it was difficult; this has not been difficult. The government has been so easy to work with. When you need something, it is done, and you don’t have to go through a bunch of red tape.” 

 Minister Sands thanked Mr Graham and his organisation for coming to assist after Dorian following the devastation it dealt to healthcare facilities on Grand Bahama.

 He noted that the healthcare infrastructure was destroyed in Grand Bahama, where 80 percent of the Rand Memorial Hospital was affected, and other health facilities were “levelled” in High Rock and East End. 

 Soon after such a devastating blow to healthcare, Dr Sands said that Samaritan’s Purse had called.

“The concept of a tent facility rising up out of the ground was foreign to me, and so I came to the site to see what they were going to do. And since that time almost 8,000 patients have been treated here, and 200 have undergone surgery and many of them have recovered,” the minister said.  

 “The partnership has been absolutely remarkable. I don’t think the people of the Bahamas can say thanks enough. We are extremely grateful and on behalf of the government and people of the Bahamas we want to express our gratitude to Samaritan’s Purse for the work they do in Grand Bahama, and also in Abaco,” Dr Sands said.

 Also attending and speaking briefly were State Minister for Disaster Management and Reconstruction Iram Lewis, and State Minister for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson.  Agriculture and Marine Resources Minister Michael Pintard and Katherine Smith, managing director of the Disaster Management Authority, were also present.

 “As children of God and persons who share that same Christian tradition, we can completely identify with what Mr Graham is saying and we are grateful to God for the work that he and Samaritan’s Purse have brought to Grand Bahama,” Minister Thompson said.  

 In October, a US Congressional delegation travelled to Freeport and announced some $7.5 million in additional funds for ongoing humanitarian assistance and support for Grand Bahama, with the majority of those funds to provide vital support to Samaritan Purse’s field hospital. 

 Mr Graham is the son of the late Evangelist “Billy” Graham.