By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

EAST Grand Bahama MP Kwasi Thompson raised alarm yesterday over conditions at the Rand Memorial Hospital, citing reports of long delays for hospital admission due to an ongoing bed shortage.

Mr Thompson said he was alerted to the situation by a constituent who claimed a family member had been stuck in the hospital’s accident & emergency department for days awaiting admission.

“I think she said they was there Thursday from last week,” the FNM MP said, calling the situation “unacceptable.”

“Again, there's no indication as to when they are going to be able to get a room and what she advised me was that it was really a desperate situation where there are far too many folks who are in the emergency room over an extended period of time and bathroom facilities are an issue and visitation is an issue.”

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville acknowledged the concerns yesterday and apologised to the affected families, calling the problem “cyclic.”

He noted that A&E sometimes faces periods of heavy overcrowding and at other times, the situation can be manageable.

“The challenges are real and as minister, I’m not going to stand up and create an indication that the hospital has the capacity to really handle the influx,” he said, adding that virtual wards have been set up for patients requiring monitoring and in hospital care.

“We’ve had this problem in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and we have another pandemic which is non-communicable diseases and they’re chronic and is we are finding a lot of patients rotating in and out of the hospital very rapidly because of many issues associated after the discharge.”

However, he said the government is trying to resolve the problem with the construction of two new hospitals.

Prime Minister Philip Davis told Parliament yesterday that the government will seek approval at the next sitting to borrow some $230m from the Chinese government for the new hospital.