Region 10 officials call for establishment of LHC Board

Elected officials of the Regional Democratic Council Region 10 are calling on the relevant authorities within the Ministry of Health to oversee the establishment of a management committee at the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) amidst recent concerns from staff about worsening conditions at the institution particularly in the emergency department.

Regional Chairman Deron Adams, related to this media house that as of recent, he has been inundated with messages from staff particularly nurses about conditions they are forced to work under. They claim that they are executing their task under duress and are unable to provide the best healthcare to residents. Specific mention was made to the state of the beds in the emergency department. “They are two beds in trauma area that need to be thrown away. Recently we had a patient that came and while performing CRP on him the bed was moving all over the place, no lock on the wheels. Nurses had to be holding the bed to stabilize it. The beds in observation (the area where patients are observed) are another stress. Secondly the bed can’t even drop to CPR mode, so it’s difficult to do chest compression. We have to put boxes of saline to elevate the bed.
The bed is full of rust, it’s in a deplorable state. The AC is wetting up the cupboard and we have to place a baby tube to collect the water which is then emptied,” were some of the claims made by the nurse under anonymity, for fear of victimization since she was one of the nurses whose salaries were cut because of participating in protest action, to remove the present CEO Rudolph Small, from his post. ‘Now the the light situation we have to use our cellphones because the light is not bright to start lines on patients. There is a shortage of size 14 catheter, which is one of the most common catheter, what is really going on, we are calling on our officials to look into this,” another nurse alleged.

While there have been many calls for the removal of CEO Small, all of which have fallen on deaf ears, Adams believes that the way forward is the installation of a management committee, which will provide a more objective oversight of the hospital, which will enable accountability and the provision of better health care.

“If the Government is serious about healthcare in Region 10, it will immediately establish the Board at the LHC now, so that there is oversight and not one person unilaterally making decisions that are not in the best interest of the organization,” Adams said. One of the latest decision made that angered regional officials and the public at large was the non renewal of several employees’ contracts. That decision was since rescinded by Central Government.

With the announcement by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, at his most recent outreach to Linden, that the hospital will be upgraded in a major way to make available most of the services that are in Georgetown, Adams said it is imperative that the installation of the board be done before the upgrade is initiated. “It is either they remove Rudy or put a board in place.”

Meanwhile in recent months CEO Rudolph Small, boasted about the many transformational projects he has been overseeing at the hospital. Extensive painting was conducted to color code the rooms in order to assist persons who are not knowledgeable about which ward their relatives are admitted. In an invited comment he had said, “The management team and I are working assiduously to transform the LHC into one of the best regional hospitals; something the residents of Region 10 will be proud of.” Other plans that were mentioned include, the rebuilding of all departments currently housed in the old hospital’s compound, landscaping the environment, and adding new beds and new equipment to the hub.  

In addition, efforts have been made to institute a monthly menu for patients. Each meal is accompanied by a bowl of soup daily, with some form of vegetables, meat, fruit and carbs.

Meals are now prepared and packaged in the kitchen and are labeled with the patient’s name, location and type of meal to be issued since some meals are ordered by the physician or doctor, of which nurses will just need to distribute.

All diabetes are entitled to six meals daily which is also recommended by a physician while regular patients are entitled to three meals daily.