The Story within the Story…A woman and her newborn on a hospital floor

Apr 10, 2016 News

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By Leonard Gildarie
Last Friday’s edition of the Kaieteur News carried a photo of a mom and newborn lying under a bed

at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). It sparked outrage and condemnation on social media forcing the hospital’s administration to announce that a probe would be launched.
Shortly after that publication, I happened to be around when the topic of that photograph was discussed. Was it that big of a deal?
I have my own thoughts.  Simply put, it should not be a situation that should be occurring.
Yes, we are not a first world country, as yet. Yes, we have free services at the public hospitals, something that has been done away with by many countries because of the huge burden the spending places on the economy. We simply cannot afford to move into this direction as yet.
Yes, we have regional hospitals. But the fact remains that the many persons prefer to trek to the city from out of town, because the GPHC is the premier health institution. I know that the West Demerara Regional Hospital has the capacity to deliver babies. Do they have empty beds?
I read that there is work being done to expand the maternity section of the GPHC.
My first thought of that photo is that we need to pay attention to our priorities. We need to assess properly what our needs are, and this should be done in consultation with the people.
I will digress a little and point to the US where medical services are by no means cheap. If you don’t have insurance, you are in trouble, deep trouble at that. Pray that you don’t fall sick.
There was a 2002 movie with Denzel Washington – “John Q”- in which he plays a father who held staffers hostage to force a hospital to operate on his son who had heart problems. Washington’s character learnt that his insurance could not cover the operation, hence his drastic actions.
The movie would only drive home the point of how difficult it is to provide medical care.
It is truly expensive. My little son, nine years old now, was born in St. Maarten. His mom was in and out of the hospital with a difficult pregnancy. The bill came – it was almost US$50,000 ($10M). Fortunately for me, I had social insurance.
I had another friend who travelled to the US about a decade ago to have surgery. The proper arrangements to pay the bill were not made. He wanted to travel to the US a few years later after that operation and he told me that he was refused a US visa because he owed the hospital. He has since passed away.
The point is that for the folks in the US, medical insurance has been a major issue for elections for years now. Presidential candidates have fought elections on this issue.
It is by no means a cheap thing. I dread falling sick, as I am not a rich man.
I recently visited a private hospital after some chest pains. It was evening and some tests were ordered. The bill was $25,000. I reckon the average salary of Guyanese is around $70,000, and I think I am being generous. Taking out $25,000 is not easy. I believe that we have about 80 percent or more of Guyanese who depend on the public health facilities run by Government for medical attention.
It will be difficult for the present and any future Government to contemplate stopping access to free medical services anytime soon. Not only from a political perspective, but from the deep, deep impact it would have on the vulnerable of this country.
I personally believe that corruption, poor planning and training all played a major role in what we have for our public services in Guyana. We need our people who serve to adopt a more professional and customer-friendly attitude.
I am glad to hear the new administration announcing plans to overhaul the public service. I recommend lots of customer services training.
When I looked at the photo, it is heart-rending from several angles. No mother would want their newborn to be lying like that.
We need to look at the facilities we have and move to ensure that maybe there are regional hospitals that offer basic services, including maternity rooms, ultra-sound machines, eye clinics etc.
The regional administrations should move away from the perception of merely looking after contracts, to now start talking to the people. What are the needs in the area? How do you consult to determine the needs?
So yes, we are not a first world country as yet, but that does not stop us from demanding more. This means more accountability from our leaders and managers and more discussions of our needs.
Whatever the probe of GPHC finds, let us endeavour to ensure that not another mother is allowed to lie on the floor of a hospital because of beds. We can and should do better.

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