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Jan 15, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor,
I write to draw you attention to an inexplicable situation that exists and solicit your help in an attempt to get some answers to the situation.
It has been my observation that the Dr. C.C. Nicholson Hospital which was opened more than 10 years ago, has been deteriorating since its opening, due to lack of use. At its inception it was supposed to serve the communities from Ann’s Grove to Melanie Damishana, an area with a population in excess of 30,000 persons.
Within the last four to five years, the Government has upgraded the Health Centre at Enmore from its former status as a Health Centre and has made it into a Polyclinic – something approaching, but not quite a hospital. However, in the same period, the Dr. C.C. Nicholson Hospital has been allowed to run down to the point where it is barely functioning as a Health Centre today.
It would seem to me that rather than diminishing the resources available to the people in the community that this hospital was meant to serve, it would have been prudent to have increased the facilities, as seemed to have been the initial perception with the upgrading of the Enmore Health Centre. This however does not seem to have been what has been done.
When the Dr. C.C. Nicholson Hospital was inaugurated and soon thereafter, it was supposed to provide an eight-bed hospital facility, it should have boasted a resident doctor, midwife, medex and nurses; along with ante and post-natal care. The hospitalization of patients in the community, who did not need to be transferred to Georgetown, would also have been possible. Sad to say, what seemed like a dream-come-true for the community, never materialized.
The expected care is non-existent and the hospital only exists in name. However, in the same period that this facility has been allowed to languish unused and deteriorating structurally, the Mahaica Hospital has been reconditioned, the Enmore Health Centre has been upgraded [and now provides dental, physiotherapy and other services] while the Health Centres at Ann’s Grove and Victoria have limped along until now.
My question therefore would be, what is the plan for the health of citizens in this part of the country, if facilities in certain areas lie unused, while others in sections of the same geographical area are being upgraded, reconditioned or re-developed? Is this health plan reflecting some sort of bias?
I would like to propose, that if the Government is unable or unwilling to utilize or maintain the Dr. C.C. Nicholson Hospital, could it be turned over to the community, so that the citizens of the community can effectively maintain it, or help in the management of the facility – with the overseas help that has always flowed for it, so that the services that it should have provided can be enjoyed by the residents of the area.
I have seen that a notice-board has been erected at the head of the road leading to the hospital, saying that $3.5 million have been ear-marked for rehabilitating the hospital.
While it is good to rehabilitate the hospital building, since it has deteriorated since its initial construction that does not indicate what will be done with the rehabilitated facility. I believe that the residents of this area are desirous of knowing, what are the plans for this facility in view of its history.
If we live in a democracy, it should be part of the democratic procedure to inform the populace as to plans that involve them. The committee in London responsible for the hospital, are in agreement with the contents of my letter and the enquiries being made. However, the Minister of Health has failed to respond to two letters sent to him, seeking answers to the questions asked herein.
Desmond Saul

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