Bahamas News
Bahamas Health Minister touts RMH Upgrades in Freeport; upgrades on schedule
By Lededra Marche
BIS
#Freeport, Grand Bahama, December 16, 2022 – Prep work is underway on the Rand Memorial Hospital grounds for the installation of two large hurricane-rated modular units which are expected to be erected shortly.
Minister of Health and Wellness, the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville making the revelation during the Annual Christmas visit of Governor-General, His Excellency, the Most Hon. Sir Cornelius A. Smith at Grand Bahama Health Services on December 9, 2022.
The two units will help to alleviate many of the challenges being faced at the Accident and Emergency Department.
“We have been listening, we have been watching social media. We have heard the cries of the residents of Grand Bahama and as we look at the entrance of the accident and Emergency — it has been a difficult time — in order to provide the essential services that have been disrupted as a result of the COVID protocols,” Dr. Darville said.
“I am so happy that we moved swiftly and we purchased these hurricane-resistant modules to bring relief to those who are in desperate need of emergency care and to be able to provide better quality service for the residents of Grand Bahama who truly deserve better.”
The units will facilitate and support the rehabilitative services presently being accommodated at the Sir Charles Hayward Library and house 18 additional beds for the Emergency Room in order to rectify the backlog that currently exists in that department.
As a result, Minister Darville said, the waiting area of the A&E and Urgent Care will be able to return to normal function to ensure that our patients and their families get the quality of care they truly deserve.
Dr. Darville further revealed that an appointment scheduling system was implemented at the Freeport Community Clinic in the IAT Building and at the Pierce Plaza location in early October has resulted in improved patient care in the delivery of outpatient-specialty services.
Additionally, the Non-communicable Diseases and General Practice Clinic remains operational, inclusive of walk-ins, however, the appointment systems is designed to improve the delivery of the specialty clinics at both facilities.
Construction work for the renovation of the morgue at the Rand Memorial Hospital is also on the way, Minister Darville added.
“This essential upgrade will allow for us to be efficient in providing the essential services and to conduct the necessary autopsies while improving the working environment for our staff and more particularly for the residents of Grand Bahama who have to come to our institution to view or to identify the remains of their loved ones,” he said.
“I’m excited because we are also expanding space at our corridor expansion where doctors on-call and switch board operators will have access to accommodation that is so badly needed at this facility.”
Dr. Darville noted that all of the projects mentioned are on schedule and the work is expected to be completed in early 2023.
He also commended the hospital management team for the reinstatement and utilization of the main lobby of the hospital to support the provision of waiting spaces and to provide access to the Out-Patient Pharmacy.
The hospital food service department is improving, he noted, while pointing out the addition of new chefs, which, he believes, will boost the morale of both the patients and staff while feasting on great tasting food.
Photo Caption: Minister of Health and Wellness, the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville, announces that preparation work is underway on the grounds of the Rand Memorial Hospital for two hurricane-rated modular units to be used to facilitate rehabilitative services and the Emergency Room. (BIS Photo/Lisa Davis)
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TheBahamas, March 17, 2023 – The FBI is investigating a woman’s ‘suspicious’ death on a Carnival Cruise ship in February. The unnamed woman and her husband boarded the Carnival Sunshine on February 27th, for a trip to the Bahamas, but she was dead before they arrived in the port in The Bahamas. 
The FBI said Carnival’s team had administered life saving measures when the woman was reported unresponsive, but they were unsuccessful. The body and the woman’s husband were released to the Bahamian authorities when the cruise arrived in the country.
In a statement shared with US media houses, Carnival Cruises claimed the death has been a natural one. The Nassau Guardian said a source told them the police findings had concurred with that assessment saying it was a “normal sudden death of a tourist who wasn’t feeling well.”
The FBI was waiting for the cruise and when it got back to South Carolina on March 4th, they immediately boarded and began to investigate the room based on ‘evidence of a crime.’ The FBI also searched the couple’s car.
No updates have been shared to contradict the currently established cause of death.
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TheBahamas, March 17, 2023 – “If you don’t like it, go to another beach!” Is what Aaron John, an Education Officer from The Bahamas National Trust jokingly tells our news team about sargassum blooms; his quip, motivated by the necessity of nature when pit against the notion that there is a real threat when the stinky seaweed makes its annual appearance.
John can admit, he says, that Sargassum isn’t very pretty but life isn’t all about aesthetics and in this instance that ugly patch serves a purpose.
“We love our sandy beaches, but in order to keep them we need Sargassum. When storms come, they wash away all the sand off the beach but sargassum acts as a mulch to protect the sand from water erosion. It doesn’t look good, it
doesn’t feel good but we need it.”
He said it also provides a habitat for small crustaceans, crabs, and insects that are all necessary to our ecosystem and islanders have found use for the weed.
“Historically, (in The Bahamas) we have been using sargassum as fertilizer, especially in the family Islands as far back as I know,” he said. “Birds don’t go on the beach unless there is Sargassum and what do they do? they feed – it’s beautiful.”
He encouraged residents to just leave it be if they came across it.
Sargassum isn’t harmful to humans, except for people with respiratory issues who may find the rotten egg smell triggers asthma. Despite this, it’s not advisable to walk through the weeds which may hide sharp rocks and bottles or vulnerable animals.
Experts say Sargassum blooms began to increase in size around 2011 and have continued to get bigger and bigger since. This year‘s bloom is around 5000 miles long and 300 miles wide and visible from space.
“I know it’s not a general outlook, but I would like to change the perspective on sargassum,” John said, pointing out The Bahamas National Trust is actively working to decrease alarm over the less worrisome events like sargassum as it raises the profile on the environmentally devastating.
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, March 17, 2023 – The Turks and Caicos’ Bahamas Diaspora Office is moving closer and closer to opening day, following the Cabinet’s approval for the signing of a lease agreement.
The lease will be signed with FINCEN ltd in the Bahamas. Several weeks ago, Arlington Musgrove, Minister of Immigration confirmed to our news team that the location had been found and was being finalized; now a lease is
approved at the Cabinet level.
The interest in the TCI from TC Bahamians was evident in the diaspora meetings held in early February. The two meetings held in Nassau and Grand Bahama were completely full and over-subscribed by hundreds.
It’s interest which the Government hopes will translate to real life population growth, bolstering the local population before the native population ‘goes extinct’.
The Opposition PDM is on the record with what it feels is a far more viable solution to a dwindling native population; seek out the country’s own citizens and bring them back home.
Cabinet did not state when the office will open.
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