00:00I will certainly be focused on working with the Secretary for Health, the Secretary of
00:05Health, to work in whatever way, I as the Minister and my colleague here as the Minister
00:11in the Ministry, to assist me going in whatever way as far as the health sector is concerned.
00:17And I do believe that when the Honourable Prime Minister makes a promise, she's well
00:20known for keeping her word.
00:22In fact, that's the reason that she's here in a second term, and she has reminded me
00:28although we are just two months into office, please, you haven't visited Tobago as yet.
00:34So that's part of the reason as well, in addition to the Secretary's kind invitation.
00:38The Health Minister and his team officially toured the Scarborough General Hospital on Friday,
00:44commenting on the emergency mode of the hospital being lifted.
00:48Dr. Bodo explained.
00:50Well, I believe the Secretary would have mentioned that it was just a precautionary measure,
00:55and we want to give the population the assurance that I think when you go into emergency mode,
01:00the first thing that comes to mind is whether there is some particular reason.
01:04I am assured that it was just a matter of extra numbers without any particular problem that could not have been treated.
01:15The Health Minister said he was pleased with the operations of the Scarborough General Hospital,
01:21which has over 100 beds.
01:24Well, I'm very pleased that the hospital is functioning very well.
01:28As you know, this hospital would have been opened in 2012, thereabouts,
01:32under the previous People's Partnership government,
01:34and I'm very pleased that it has been maintained.
01:38Quite, almost all of the facilities I saw and services working,
01:42and of particular interest would have been the state of the cardiac catheterization lab.
01:49Of course, in addition to the routine services that are offered to Tobago,
01:53we also, of course, want to ensure that, you know, all manner of health care is provided,
01:59including cardiac services.
02:01I'm aware that over the years, over the past few years,
02:05I'm secretary, that some of your patients would have been transported to Trinidad,
02:11and of course, the idea is to try and provide as many services as possible.
02:15The Scarborough General Hospital officially ended its emergency mode on Friday,
02:20following a successful 48-hour intervention period.
02:24The facility has now safely resumed operations, normal operations,
02:30as such, the temporary hold on elective surgeries was also lifted with immediate effect.
02:36But while services returned to normal, the TRHA continues to encourage individuals
02:41with non-life-threatening conditions to access care through their nearest health center
02:47in order to reduce congestion at the hospital and ensure efficient service delivery.
02:53So after today, we would sit down and we would look at where the health system is.
02:57As you know, my aim is to ensure that we provide the best quality service to the people of Tobago.
03:03The minister has committed to collaborating with us.
03:06We have spoken in private, and I would keep those conversations in private for now about
03:10what some of those projects could be.
03:11And you guys know that I usually announce when we are ready to announce.
03:15So, but we do have the commitment of the government of Trinidad and Tobago to work
03:19with the Tobago House of Assembly, and I think that is what is critical.
03:22Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
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