The Prime Minister this afternoon boasts of another election promise kept....the rededication and recommisioning of the Couva Children's Hospital. The institution is already up and running and the Prime Minister is assuring the nation that it will be adequately staffed.
00:00In April 2024, when 11 newborn children died at the Post-Spin General Hospital in NICU, the price of neglect became undeniable.
00:13In that moment, I repeated what I'd been saying for years, open the Coover Children's Hospital.
00:20Prime Minister Kamala Passat-Bassessa during her featured address at the Christmas concert commemorating the official rededication of the Coover Children's Hospital.
00:28When assessment came in, made this year, reality was far worse than we expected.
00:36Because after almost a decade of abandonment, 217 pieces unused medical equipment, valued at over 20.68 million, were still in boxes 10 years later.
00:5310 major radiology systems worth more than $33.5 million had expired before ever treating a single patient.
01:06Prime Minister Passat-Bassessa said 45 items valued at $14.2 million were already obsolete, and 225 more systems valued at $31.9 million were non-functional.
01:19Do you know how much money that adds up to? It adds up about $100 million.
01:25Not yours, not mine. All taxpayers, about $100 million left idle, left abandoned.
01:36I say that was not delayed. It was neglect, maliciously, costing families years of care, and children access to life-saving treatment.
01:46The Prime Minister then spoke about what she identified as another cost for taxpayers.
01:52Recently, Utica confirmed about $78.2 million will be required to restore and replace equipment at this facility.
02:03Procurement and commissioning have begun, and activation is progressing in structured phases.
02:11Already, the first operating theatres were certified in September 2025.
02:20The first operating theatres. You need to acknowledge that, please.
02:28Prime Minister Passat-Bassessa said that last month, on November 28th, the first surgery was successfully performed at the Coover Children's Hospital,
02:35and as of December 5th, 86 surgeries have been completed.
Be the first to comment