00:00The space that was once the Augustus Long Hospital in Pointe Au Pair has been transformed
00:05and is now home to the new Cancer Center of Trinidad and Tobago South, which has facilitated
00:10the relocation of oncology services from the San Fernando General Hospital.
00:16Minister of Health Terence Yalsing believes the new facility and what it represents in
00:21terms of decentralizing health care will better serve the public by bridging time and distance.
00:28Because one of the main factors that discourage Trinidadians and Tobagonians from seeking
00:33help is distance and time and expense, especially for those of the lower socioeconomic groups
00:40to pay taxi fare to reach St. James.
00:43So this is going to really help people, you know, maintain their regime, whether it's
00:49on pharmaceuticals, chemotherapy, and have more equitable access to services.
00:56The Center plans to keep upgrading the services the Cancer Center will offer, as it is being
01:00referred to as a phased project.
01:03So we're starting up now with outpatient palliative care, as well as oncology services, and in
01:07the event you're going to move to a theatre service, it's going to have a uro-oncology
01:10here, as well as gynae-oncology.
01:12We're going to perform colposcopy here, which is what we've been doing at San Fernando
01:15General Hospital.
01:16And as time goes on, we're going to further expand our services.
01:19So this is not something that will happen now, but we can think about it in the future.
01:23Executive Officer of the Southwest Regional Health Authority, Dr. Brian Amoh, could not
01:28provide a cost of the project at the time of the opening, but he has given some insight
01:33into it.
01:34I'll have to get back to you with the actual figure, of course.
01:36But we built it within our capital expenses in part, and we have the current operational
01:41expenses, and this has been strategically planned over the last two years.
01:44So therefore, it's not to say that it is a lonesome.
01:47So we have strategically built it.
01:50I remember here with the COVID pandemic, we did some infrastructure through the COVID
01:54pandemic that has a residual impact to further enhance.
01:57Chairman of Heritage Petroleum, Michael Kwamena, Senior Counsel, notes that during the pandemic,
02:03upgrades were done to the infrastructure at the hospital by Trinidad Petroleum Holdings
02:07Ltd. before it was handed over to the SWRHA.
02:11He says cancer is no longer a death sentence for everyone, as many have been able to fight
02:17it with modern health care.
02:19Aided in no small part by the extraordinary work of dedicated professionals and facilities
02:25such as this.
02:27As Chairman of the TPHL, I am pleased to reaffirm my Board's support for this noble initiative
02:33and hope that this cancer centre will be seen as a legacy of TPHL's commitment to supporting
02:40the well-being of Trinidad and Tobago as a whole and the southern region in particular.
02:46Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
02:49For more information visit www.fema.gov
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