By Farrah Johnson

Tribune Staff Reporter

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE Public Hospitals Authority yesterday announced it is “in talks” with international partners to expand the Princess Margaret Hospital’s Special Pathogen Unit amid criticism over the alleged housing conditions of COVID-19 patients at the medical facility.

Over the weekend, a video showing patients lying on gurneys in a corridor of PMH while rain poured through the roof onto the porch just feet away, sparked much public outrage after making its rounds on social media.

In another clip, a woman could be heard describing the conditions at the hospital as “crazy” and calling on Health Minister Renward Wells to intervene.

In the two-minute audio clip, the woman said she was a Bahamian citizen who paid her taxes. She also said she did not care how “overflowing” the hospital was, they should not treat dogs the way they were treating the people that had COVID at the facility.

“My mother called me 4 o’clock this morning crying saying that she’s getting wet up on the porch,” she said in the recording.

“She call for the nurse to move her from the water (but) everybody playing stupid like they don’t know what’s going on. She already have an ammonia. I went there yesterday, she cried and called me to bring her a cup of tea. I said ‘Mummy they can’t make you tea to the hospital? No tea, no hot water, it’s crazy man. People is pay tax dollars. In this Bahamaland we getting charged VAT. Why is it that you can’t have a proper facility to house the people man? You don’t have them outside like that, they’re human beings, they’re not animals”.

Before the clip ends, the woman could be heard pleading with Mr Wells to “help the people at the hospital”.

“Something needs to be done,” she insisted. “You don’t treat animals the way you’re treating the people”.

On Saturday, the Coalition of Independents Deputy Leader Maria Daxon was arrested after she recorded a video outside PMH’s main entrance, criticising the government for failing to build a temporary hundred bed hospital to host sick Bahamians.

In her livestream, which has also resulted in several views, Mrs Daxon said she visited the hospital to “address the horrid conditions sick Bahamians were enduring at PMH”. Although she was asked to leave the premises by security, she insisted it was the “taxpayer’s building”. The following day, COI leader Lincoln Bain live streamed another video in front of the Wulff Road Police station where Mrs Daxon was being released from custody. Mr Bain claimed she had been detained after defending her niece from a security guard who tried to confront the young lady while they were recording at PMH.

In a statement yesterday, the PHA and PMH said they were aware of photos and a video circulating on social media portraying the west porch area of the Critical Care Block being battered by rain early Saturday morning.

They stated the area identified in the viral footage was the triage site for the Accident & Emergency Department. They added that all patients arriving for care at the Emergency Department were screened for COVID-19 as part of PMH’s prevention measures.

“During the rainstorm early Saturday morning, patients in the Triage area were relocated from the West Porch Area to the North Porch Area for temporary shelter from the weather,” according to the statement.

“Subsequently, those patients were relocated to the General Practice Clinic area in the Ambulatory Block. The Critical Care Block Food Court and its exterior porch areas were designated as the Triage site for COVID-19 screening for the PMH Emergency Department since March of 2020”.

According to the PHA, patients who are being screened for COVID-19 are held in the exterior porch areas, while COVID-19 positive patients are admitted and transferred to either the Special Pathogens Unit, the Legacy Unit or Doctor’s Hospital West.

The Authority also noted that PMH has maintained that it has reached its capacity for COVID-19 positive admissions, even as it continues to see a daily intake of new cases.

“As recently as Friday, July 23, Hospital Administrator Mary Lightbourne Walker in a Ministry of Health Press Conference advised that there were 50 COVID-19 positive patients admitted, some 11 of whom were awaiting transfer from the Emergency Department for in-patient care. Hospital officials are in talks with international partners to expand the hospital’s Special Pathogen Unit for the care of COVID-19 patients.

“The PHA and PMH has a very strict policy restricting visitation which is in place to protect patients and staff to avoid the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The capturing of photographs and videos of patients or staff without permission; and incidents of verbal and/or physical abuse will not be tolerated”.

The Authority said they also wanted to remind the public that the Emergency Department is only accepting emergency cases. They said persons in need of care for non-medical emergencies should visit their doctor’s office or community clinic.

The statement continued: “The Public Hospitals Authority and Princess Margaret Hospital salutes our hardworking and dedicated staff who continue to care for patients in the fight against this deadly pandemic. We thank the public for its ongoing support and compliance with COVID-19 prevention protocols at our public hospitals. The public is further advised to follow all announcements and public advisories from the Ministry of Health and Public Hospitals Authority regarding Health and Hospital Services”.