00:00Chairman Dr. Gopi Singh says the problems at the North Central Regional Health Authority
00:06and the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex are severe,
00:10with multiple urgent deficiencies that demand immediate attention.
00:15He describes the current state as unfortunate and says it's an issue he has long spoken out against,
00:23but now as chairman he is determined to act.
00:26The electrical problems have not been dealt with for 37 years.
00:32The lifts are 37 years old.
00:35The water system is at a level that is, if we don't do something about it,
00:42it will be totally destructive to the population.
00:47Then the waste water system, then the waste incinerator for biohazard medical waste,
00:52lack of accountability by all managers from the top down.
00:57He adds that the board's investigation has uncovered hundreds of millions in debt
01:02incurred by the North Central Regional Health Authority.
01:06He also notes with concern the way contracts were awarded.
01:10I found out that we had security companies being paid about approximately $52 million for the year.
01:21So when I began to investigate it, I realized there were five companies.
01:26When I asked when was the last tender and contract awarded, I think it was 2007.
01:32So I asked the finance director, how could you be paying money to these people without having a contract
01:39and without being tendered?
01:41So immediately I said I must do an audit into the entire thing.
01:46Dr. Gopi Singh also raises serious concerns about hospital admissions
01:51and patients waiting in accident and emergency for sometimes over 48 hours.
01:57It's a very unhealthy population we have, Ms. Romani.
02:01When you look at the admissions into the emergency department on a daily basis, including the pediatrics,
02:08it's over 400 patients that are sometimes attending to the emergency department at Eric Williams.
02:15And out of that, we have to admit more than about 60 or 70 to do wards,
02:23some to operate in theater directly for emergency surgery.
02:27Dr. Gopi Singh warns that some jobs could be on the chopping block
02:31once the investigation, currently underway, produces its findings.
02:37I think people don't have to be held accountable at the end of the time
02:41when the audit is done for the travesty of spending taxpayers' money willy-nilly without any accountability.
02:48And this has been the watchword of the last administration all over the country.
02:55For 10 years, they spent close to $600 billion.
02:58And this is a small manifestation that went on in all different departments of the country.
03:04Efforts to contact the former health minister were unsuccessful.
03:08Nicole M. Romani, TV6 News.
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