By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement (FNM) chairman Dr Duane Sands said the Davis administration is wrong for creating the appearance that the proposed $290m hospital in New Providence will resolve the island’s healthcare issues, calling it an “ostentatious promise”.

Last week, Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Michael Darville confirmed his ministry had received approval from the Ministry of Environment to proceed with the hospital’s construction.

Dr Sands said yesterday: “They are going to build this hospital, and they are going to claim that anybody that says anything against it is just anti-Bahamian. At the same time, they are promising Bahamians that just by building this particular hospital and the one in Grand Bahama that, somehow all of the challenges that we’ve had with healthcare will go away. That is absolutely not true. They are selling the Bahamian people a bill of goods, but it is an ostentatious promise.”

Dr Sands said the new hospital won’t address medication shortages, surgical delays, and emergency room congestion. He noted that the 200-bed speciality hospital would primarily serve women and children.

He questioned the necessity of the new facility, pointing out that The Bahamas already has the best neonatal intensive care unit in the Caribbean. He also highlighted that the hospital will not focus on critical areas like emergency, surgical, or men’s healthcare.

Dr Gemma Rolle, president of the Medical Association of The Bahamas, also has voiced concerns. She said doctors were unaware of the plan and questioned how the government would staff the facility, given the current manpower shortages at Princess Margaret Hospital. Dr Sands agreed with Dr Rolle, stressing that the issue of medical staffing should not be taken lightly.

Dr Sands urged the health minister to address existing problems in the healthcare system, including the shortage of nurses, lack of opportunities for doctor training, the disrepair of the critical care block, and the absence of sustainable funding. He suggested that redeveloping Princess Margaret Hospital would be better than constructing a new facility.

The proposed 50-acre hospital at the Perpall Tract Wellfield will include a 200-bed speciality hospital primarily for women and children, featuring a neonatal unit, imaging services, a morgue, pathology services, and telemedicine. It will be located off the New Providence Highway, between the six-legged roundabout and Saunders Beach roundabout.

The $290m hospital will be funded through a 20-year loan from the China Export-Import Bank at a two percent interest rate.