Joint task force established for Wismar Hospital

Sep 13, 2008 News

In the wake of the brutal assault on the Wismar Hospital on Wednesday morning, Minister within the Ministry of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, announced the setting up of a joint operation to deal with the situation.

The task force includes the Ministries of Local Government and Health, along with personnel from Region #10. Dr. Ramsaran said that the two ministries are aggressively following the situation and are taking urgent steps to remedy it.

“The Regional Executive Officer, Region #10, was summoned to a meeting with myself and Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Kellawan Lall, and was given specific instructions and recommendations, to be acted upon immediately,” Ramsaran revealed.

Among the recommendations is the immediate beefing up of security at the hospital, as current arrangements seem to be lacking.

Minister Ramsaran said that security arrangements were provided by the Linden Hospital Complex Management through a contracted provider.

“But it seems this was not adequate enough, as it has been revealed that the guards on duty when the attack occurred comprised of ageing women”, he pointed out.

According to Dr. Ramsaran, the Regional Executive Officer was instructed to deploy a contingent of able bodied persons to complement the security force at the hospital.

As a result of this incident, other concerns at the hospital were raised, including special protection for nurses on their way home after performing night duty, as certain parts of the path taken by the nurses, are in darkness and desolately located, especially in the nights.

The minister said that his ministry is open to addressing these and other issues of the staff at the hospital, and is interested in finding quick resolutions.

And the victims of the near fatal fiasco will be taken care of, both emotionally and otherwise, for their recent trauma.

“We are taking all the necessary steps to ensure that the affected persons are well taken care of. We are very concerned for the nurses’ wellbeing, and everything will be done so that they can return to their normal lives in the near future,” Minister Ramsaran said.