NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Struggling with bed space for coronavirus patients and a full Accident and Emergency (A&E) theater, Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) was impacted for a seventh day as droves of workers, frustrated with working conditions and the recent honorarium payments for frontline workers, called in sick.
The ongoing sickout has also impacted Grand Bahama Health Services and the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre, forcing the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) to again request that the public access non-urgent care at community clinics in the respective areas.
“PMH continues to experience limited staffing and expected delays in the diagnostics, laboratory services, laundry and food services department,” read a PHA statement.
“Morgue (Rand Lab) continues services with the release of remains and identification of remains.
“Laboratory services at Agape Clinic on 4th Terrace, Centreville, continue to be suspended until further notice.”
The authority advised, however, that the Radiology Department had resumed normal operations.
Meanwhile, PMH’s offsite blood donation drive at the New Providence Community Church on Blake Road, slated for tomorrow and Friday, has been postponed until further notice.
As it relates to Grand Bahama, the PHA said the health services on the island continue to experience staff shortages, and the pharmacies at Hawksbill Clinic and Pearce Plaza were closed.
The pharmacy at the Freeport Community Clinic, however, continues to facilitate in-patients, children and emergencies only.
Additionally, the Rand Memorial Hospital’s housekeeping department has had to implement contingencies for services, but all other departments continue to operate unimpeded.
According to the PHA, the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre also continues to experience staff call-ins and services remain challenged.
But patient care and services continued to operate uninterrupted, the PHA said.
Employees appear to be calling in amid ongoing concerns over the number of coronavirus cases hospitalized and some workers not receiving an honorarium payment from the government for working on the frontlines during the height of the pandemic.
Some staff that worked on the frontlines of the pandemic were given between $1,000 and $5,000 in honorariums.
Minister of Health Renward Wells has stressed that the long-promised honorarium was “not for every healthcare worker”, noting the government had allocated some $3 million for that payout.
However, among those individuals to receive the gift were the health minister’s driver and personal assistant, which some healthcare workers took as “a slap in the face“.
This week, the minister announced that his driver and personal assistant, who received just over $1,100, returned the funds to the government, at his request.
Wells also advised that while a select committee in the Ministry of Health selected who would receive honorariums, he would take the list of names for those who were recommended and did not receive to Cabinet for further review to ensure the government’s intent with the payments were carried out.
However, Bahamas Public Services Union (BPSU) Secretary General O’Neil Thurston on Monday said: “All we are saying to the administration today is be fair… We ain’t into no long talking. We worked; pay us.”
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