By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A GRAND Bahama attorney is calling for a new “decent” hospital to be built in Freeport, stressing that Grand Bahamians deserve a proper public healthcare facility.

K Brian Hanna, of K Brian Hanna Chambers, claims that the current hospital is a “total disgrace,” and is a demonstration of the neglect of Freeport.

“I invite you to look around Freeport and open your eyes to the neglect…,” he said. “Our health care system is a total disgrace…as a direct result of our visionless government representatives.”

Rand Memorial Hospital in Grand Bahama was compromised by Hurricane Dorian last September. A field hospital set up by American NGO Samaritan’s Purse is being utilised as repairs are carried out at the main hospital.

However, the attorney contended that the tent hospital is insufficient and unacceptable.

“Those tents would be blown down in a thunderstorm, and if a hurricane was to come here, it would be devastated,” he said.

“What is our Prime Minister telling us here in Freeport – that is okay to give birth to the future of the nation in a tent; that it is okay for our sick and injured to be cared for in a tent – that it is okay for our doctors, nurses, and health professionals to work and operate in tents?

“The irony and the sad part about this…is that our Prime Minister is a doctor himself. You would think he would be proud to know that under his administration he built a hospital that would serve the Bahamian people for years, even decades to come,” said Mr Hanna.

In April, RMH hospital administrator Sharon Williams, during an interview with ZNS Northern Service, said officials were “gravely” concerned after severe weather conditions in Grand Bahama left the 40-bed field hospital battered and patients and staff unsettled. At the time, she noted that the tents are not designed for extremely high winds.

“They can withstand up to 70mph winds, we were told,” Ms Williams said. “So, what we must do is watch the weather very closely about wind strengths and hurricanes threatening us and make sure we move our staff to various facilities that we have identified.”

Last October, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said Grand Bahama would get a new hospital as promised, however no firm timeline has been given for the proposed project.