Skip to playerSkip to main content
CCNTV6
  • 2 months ago
The government is moving swiftly to fully operationalise the Couva Children’s Hospital, within a few months.

This was announced by the Minister of Works and Infrastructure Jerlene John during a media tour of the facility on Thursday morning.

Our reporter Cindy Raghubar-Teekersingh was there and gives us an inside look at the hospital.

Category

🗞
News
Transcript
00:00Commissioned in August 2015 by the UNC People's Partnership, who soon after lost government to the PNM,
00:08the KUVA Hospital has only been partially utilised during the COVID-19 pandemic, never opened to the public otherwise.
00:15Before the end of this year, 2025, 10 years after construction was completed,
00:21the government says the KUVA Hospital and multi-training facility will reopen,
00:26but for its intended purpose, to serve primarily children.
00:31Its name will also revert to the KUVA Children's Hospital.
00:35On Thursday, Ministers of Health and Works and Infrastructure hosted a media tour guided by biomedical engineers attached to Uticot
00:43to show the population it remained mostly the way the UNC left it,
00:48with tens of millions of dollars worth in major medical equipment,
00:52still wrapped in plastic or boxes, minimally used or not at all.
00:56This particular piece of equipment was purchased, and it was installed in April of 2015.
01:02Currently, just like the MRI machine, it is non-functional.
01:06The hospital has four never utilised NICU chambers, now non-functional.
01:1228 deaths in Port of Spain, and the then Minister of Health decided he was going to argue,
01:17because we built this hospital, we need people there.
01:19He said there was nothing in this space, so that is, I think that is part of the purpose of this building.
01:24So you can see, this was all there, and he said there was nothing in this space.
01:28It was an empty space.
01:29Alright?
01:30And this could have been used as a NICU, it would have saved lives.
01:32Alright?
01:33So 228 by, how many we have here?
01:35We have four.
01:36Four.
01:36Yeah.
01:37228.
01:38That was a million dollars sitting here.
01:39A million dollars sitting here.
01:40Never used, and it's now obsolete.
01:42Without taking a single baby.
01:44Without taking a, no baby went into this, and they were dying in Port of Spain.
01:47The 230-bed hospital has 80 pediatric and 150 adult beds, some still in plastic, never used.
01:56Minister Bodo says the list of elective surgeries in waiting across all RHAs is currently 11,303 cases,
02:06and pointed out that this hospital has five equipped operating theatres.
02:11It is also very useful for joint surgery, for joint replacement, and currently, from the data we have gotten from the RHAs,
02:20the joint replacement wait time is up to three years.
02:24So for this specific piece of machinery, once this is fully operational, it will be able to alleviate a lot of the backlog that we have.
02:32The machinery for endoscopies, we are told, have also never been used.
02:38There are two rigid scopes, one flexible scopes, each scope ranges from about $225,000 to up to $240,000, $250,000.
02:49None of these have been used, they are complete with the scope unit itself, with the camera, as well as the suction valve.
02:58Ten units, this has been sitting here?
02:59Correct.
03:00Still in the box, the manual hasn't been opened yet.
03:06The biomedical engineers say the lab area alone cost over $12 million and is mostly obsolete.
03:14There is a fully equipped burns unit with six ICU beds, two paediatric and four for adults,
03:20which could have prevented taking patients of industrial accidents out of the country for care.
03:26Minister John says, this is a priority project of Prime Minister Kamala Pesambi Sessa and a date for a full opening will be soon.
03:36It's very close.
03:37She wants it open as soon as soon as soon.
03:38Before the end of the year?
03:39Most likely, very likely, as long as we can do it.
03:41So we are going out of the tender, which takes a little time, about two months, but we're
03:45going to walk and chew gum at the same time.
03:46You are seeing that structurally the hospital is in fairly good condition, right?
03:51So with some paint top and so on and some elbow grease, you know, because the hospital has
03:54to be very sterile, very clean.
03:56we are treating with that. The quick one is the more worrying thing because they look good on you
04:01but they are mainly obsolete. Will there be enough nurses and doctors to staff this hospital?
04:06Well at this point in time there's a vacancy. There's a shortage of some 1,800 nurses in the
04:11country. I have made requests in the upcoming budget to try and fill those vacancies. On Friday
04:17the ministers will host another media tour this time of the incomplete 540 bed Port of Spain
04:25General Hospital's Central Block. Cindy Raghuma Tika Singh, TV6 News.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment