Security being hired for Family Island clinics after hostage incident in May, says Darville

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

SECURITY officers are being hired for Family Island clinics after an incident in May that saw a doctor and nurse held hostage following a stabbing.

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said Cabinet approved hiring and deploying 162 security officers to Family Island clinics after the incident in Eleuthera.

Dr Darville noted many clinics are staffed with women nurses working at night at facilities, which could be unsafe.

Bahamas Nurses Union (BNU) president Muriel Lightbourn gave further details on the two medical professionals who were held hostage on May 27.

“There was a stabbing incident,” she said last week. “The perpetrator came into the clinic as a victim, I guess, to finish what he had started. During that, the nurse and the doctor were held hostage in the clinic, now, along with one of the victims.

“Now my take is this. When it came to me, I thought we were talking about the clinic, but we’re actually talking about a house — a three-bedroom, two-bath house — that the clinic is presently utilising.”

She said the structure was initially only supposed to house nurses.

Dr Darville said when health officials learned about the incident, they investigated and found that clinics throughout Family Islands had a shortage of security officers.

“Most of our healthcare facilities in the Family Islands are under complete control of females,” he said. “I want to let the general public know that the Cabinet of The Bahamas approved to hire 162 security officers to be deployed throughout the Family Islands.

“That particular recruitment exercise is ongoing and we should have it completed in a few months. The time has come for our nurses in the Family Islands to have that security support for two reasons.

“One, sometimes they are called upon at night and sometimes they have to present themselves to the clinic and I’m concerned about it and so we want Cabinet to get the necessary funding to hire security offices, as well as maintenance facility support staff throughout the Family Islands.”

Comments

carltonr61 says...

The WHO, has rolled back all covid manditory vaccinations and urged that mosquito birn viruses are the katest threat. Yet my grandson, only eighteen years old while applying fir a job wasctokd he has chosen be civid vaccinated. If I recall the batches the world was producing has expired and covid vaccines are proving daily to cause health injuries or death. The Bahamas needs a unified position on civid that matches the world community. Science data shows that the vaccinated persons as their bodies produce the infection after inoculations sheds the virus and spreads it during breathing. These vaccines have to be monetized my the medical industry profiteers crooks privately as WHO has long ago abandoned covid vaccines as a preventative tool, insisting persons with comobilities and weakened immune systems take adequate personal protection, not institutionalized mandates that decriminates new workers through forced blackmail and non adherence to international WHO laws that climbed down on covid dictatorial and criminal inhumane gestapo policy.

Posted 26 July 2023, 8:28 p.m. Suggest removal

pablojay says...

Bahamian criminals will fear a security officer? What about extra police officers?

Posted 26 July 2023, 10:37 p.m. Suggest removal

trueBahamian says...

I find this story off as well. Security officers are not armed. So, they are not much of a deterrent. Every family island have police officers stationed there. The government just needs to use the police resources already on island or are these 162 security officers just a smokescreen to slip some money.

Posted 26 July 2023, 11:56 p.m. Suggest removal

jamesg30 says...

Security officer? How about using the dollars and hire more health care officials. What would save lives more? I woman or man in a hot blue suit with a baton, standing around all day, or more life saving professionals working in these clinics each day? Let's get on this one, right after they investigate who paid the $400 for the Andros post party clean up!

Posted 27 July 2023, 9:51 a.m. Suggest removal

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