Absence of Board allowed for litigation against GPHC – Chairman

Jul 30, 2016 News

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• efforts apace to revamp hospital despite denial of support

  The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) is currently faced with multiple lawsuits and this is allowing for wastage of taxpayers’ money. This disclosure was recently made by Chairman of the hospital’s Board of Directors, Dr. Carl ‘Max’ Hanoman.
  Without specifying the lawsuits in question, the Chairman informed, “There are more than one or two cases involving the Georgetown Hospital and we keep paying these members who are sidelined.”
  But this state of affairs could have been avoided altogether had the hospital not broken Corporate laws.
  Dr. Hanoman explained that the life of the last Board ended in March of 2015 and there was no Board from June 2015 to March 2016. Dr. Hanoman was asked to take up the chairmanship of the hospital in March 2016 after an earlier appointment was revoked.
  According to Dr. Hanoman, while he is thankful to the Government for the confidence reposed in him to take on the role of Chairman, he expressed, in no uncertain terms, that it was absolutely wrong for the GPHC to have ever been without a Board since becoming a Corporation.
  “Georgetown Hospital being a Corporation must never be without a Board. Once there is not a Board all the rules and regulations are broken.  Corporate laws are strange laws and so we have to be careful; we can end up in legal dilemmas because actions done without a Board, if no Board is in place, are brought to the court,” Dr. Hanoman noted.
  TREMENDOUS WORK
  The GPHC Chairman said that when he assumed his position, he recognised that there was a tremendous amount of work to be done in order to put the hospital back in focus. He, however, disclosed that he was fortunate to have a team of Board members who are diverse and supportive though they are only eligible for a meagre stipend.
  As Chairman of the Board, Dr. Hanoman said that he receives $10,000 per month.
  But the task of transforming the hospital requires more effort and attention than can be realised during the statutory one-meeting per month of the Board.
  Dr. Hanoman said that he wrote to the Minister of Public Health requesting an increase of stipend for the Board members.  This, he said, was simply intended to “keep their moral going and increase their initiative.” This request was denied.
  A request for a vehicle and driver to carry out his duties was also denied, Dr. Hanoman complained. “I realised as Chairman of Georgetown Hospital that it would entail travelling around the country,” related Dr. Hanoman.
  This is in light of the fact that the GPHC controls health centres at Enmore, Industry and other peripheral centres. Dr. Hanoman said that in order for him to give these facilities attention too he needs to travel.
  “For me to do that I would have to be travelling by vehicle and I am a senior person, I would have expected to be given a chauffeur,” shared Dr. Hanoman who noted that he wrote in March to the Minister for the support but only got a letter of denial on June 25. In fact Dr. Hanoman said that he was informed that his request was considered ‘a luxury.’
  FOCUS ON TRANSFORMATION
  But given his disclosure that he accepted the job with no intentions other than to improve the operation of the hospital, Dr. Hanoman said that he has continued to do what must be done to transform the facility in a positive way. Since assuming his duties he said that he has conducted about 40 meetings at the GPHC, met with various stakeholders in order to first learn what the shortcomings of the facility are.
  Among the first shortcomings he recognised was an overcrowding situation at the Accident and Emergency Unit (A&E) which was compounded by a breakdown in communication among staffers. He observed that there is a reluctance of nurses to admit patients to the wards too.  “Very often they would say there are no beds (available) in the wards and when you go and check there are beds available,” lamented Dr. Hanoman.
  He also revealed that discharges from the wards were not done efficiently thus resulting in a backlog of patients. This has been found to be a major challenge, since according to the Chairman, the beds in the A & E are unsuitable to accommodate patients.
  He also spoke of untidy and unhygienic surroundings of the (A&E) and revealed that there were few cardiac monitors. But there were even more shortcomings in that department that worried the Chairman including: shortage of nurses and a high level of absenteeism.
  “With the Accident and Emergency (Unit) being the face of the hospital, I took it upon myself to try to correct that area,” related Dr. Hanoman. This translated to efforts being made to “appeal to friends, fellow doctors abroad, Guyanese who studied with me who I know, to help the Georgetown Hospital.”
  The A&E Unit has since been boosted with eight cardiac monitors and two new ECG machines among other things, according to Dr. Hanoman. On his instructions too, the hospital has since ordered 20 mattresses and there is a more hygienic state evident.
  But the most laudable achievement since he became Chairman, Dr. Hanoman boasted, is that “the overcrowding is not as severe because we have put measures in place to correct that.” This, according to him, entails a re-structured triage system that allows for the efficient processing of patients.

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