COVID-19 Hospital… Health Ministry considered other institutions before Ocean View Hotel – Permanent Secretary

Apr 14, 2020 News

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– Says owners answered immediately

By Shikema Dey

Permanent Secretary of the Public Health Ministry, Collette Adams, yesterday defended Government’s decision to use the Ocean View International Hotel as a facility for the incubation, isolation and quarantine of persons infected with the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Her comments came in light of heavy criticisms from citizens who questioned why the incumbent administration opted to use a facility where they would have to expend millions as opposed to using a facility that already houses the needed amenities to tackle the virus. The concern was also raised that the Ocean View facility would be at risk of flooding during high tide.
On social media, it was suggested that other private health facilities could have been approached, with even the recently upgraded doctors’ quarters being used.
One private citizen, Robbie Rambarran, asked about the arrangement between the owner and government, and for details of the financial arrangement including the expenditure of works being done, and about “the real owner of the said property and what is the cost of the rental?”
Adams appeared on Kaieteur Radio’s COVID-19 Watch yesterday and revealed that the owners of the Ocean View International Hotel responded almost immediately to their request.
She explained that when the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) initially announced that Guyana should expect an estimated 1,400 cases of the COVID-19; the Health Ministry and the National COVID-19 Task Force immediately began scouting facilities with the requisite capacity to handle this number.
“Our first move was to look at those areas which we can have those critical care people, as well as the isolation and quarantine people.”
The Permanent Secretary relayed that they examined the Georgetown, West Demerara and Diamond Hospitals to allocate sections for treatment, isolation and quarantine of COVID-19 patients.
Added to that, the Ministry still continued to search for necessary facilities that, according to the PS, would not need additional expenses.
But even this proved a difficult task.
Adams said that the Ministry eyed the Prashad Hospital located on Middle Street but got the “royal run around”.
“The first place we looked at was the Prashad Hospital, which I personally and Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, as best as we could, looked to see if we could find the owner…we were given names, we were given numbers, and I think Minister Lawrence called [PPP/C] Presidential Candidate [Irfaan] Ali for assistance, but to no avail. So what else can the Ministry do?” Adams questioned.
It was after this, that the owners of the Ocean View International Hotel were approached and they immediately lent their support.
“Ocean View was asked and they immediately had no objections to it,” the PS stated.
“We looked at the whole structure of it, with a collective resource of persons including the standard department at the Ministry, the Georgetown Hospital, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer and all of the technical people within the Ministry. They came up with an idea that the place can hold up to 300 beds with an Intensive Care Unit.”
The Permanent Secretary told Kaieteur Radio that after scouting the Hotel, they sent the proposal to Cabinet to review but were only given partial approval.
However, this stance changed after PAHO/WHO released their second report that Guyana could expect 20,000 cases of COVID-19 infections instead.
According to her, “after PAHO would have made the second announcement, it was so urgent that we had to go in that direction.”
She noted that they still attempted to scout other facilities, including the Prashad Hospital, but the Ministry, to date, has not received any word back.
“We made contact with the hospital and they had us waiting two days straight to examine and inspect the hospital and to date nobody responded after.”
Government will need to expend a hefty sum to make the Ocean View hotel suitable for COVID-19 patients since the facility has been closed for a while.
Repairs have already commenced at the hotel. Among other things, the roof has been taken off and there are major works ongoing including repairs to the bathrooms and to damaged tiles in the facility.
Concerns have been raised about the long term justification for the use of the hotel and the arrangements that government has entered with the owners.
In recent years, spring tides have been causing overtopping causing flooding to areas nearby. Due to the hotel’s close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, back in 2013, the facility took a hit after high tides resulted in significant damage amounting to millions.

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