THE Government of Trinidad and Tobago has refused to fully open the Couva Children’s Hospital because of envy and vindictiveness.
This is the claim being made by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar in a Facebook post on Thursday.
She said the hospital was supposed to specialize in medical care for children and house a much needed Burns Unit for Central Trinidad and would have also created hundreds of jobs for healthcare and other professionals.
Persad-Bissessar said, “But since 2015, the failed Rowley Government has blatantly refused to open it out of sheer envy and vindictiveness.”
The hospital now called the Couva Hospital and Multi-Training Facility is used to keep positive Covid-19 patients. It has been activated as part of the parallel healthcare system to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic by the Ministry of Health.
See Persad-Bissessar’s full post below:
Good morning, everyone.
When I became Prime Minister in 2010, a major challenge was fixing the seriously failing health sector, under which mothers would often die in childbirth. The Couva Children’s Hospital was therefore instrumental to my administration’s health sector reform.
It was a state-of-the-art institution, strategically located to buffer overcrowding at both the San Fernando General and Mt Hope hospitals.
It was supposed to specialize in medical care for children and house a much needed Burns Unit for Central Trinidad. It would have also CREATED hundreds of JOBS for healthcare and other professionals, and ultimately opened T&T up to medical tourism.
But since 2015, the failed Rowley Government has blatantly refused to open it out of sheer envy and vindictiveness.
Initially, they claimed there were insufficient doctors and nurses to staff it. They lied— over 300 local doctors and hundreds of nurses are STILL waiting on jobs.
They left a brand new hospital to rot, even as they’ve heartlessly presided over the chaotic collapse of the health sector.
Our nation’s hospitals are now plagued with overcrowding, a lack of beds and medication, delayed surgeries and insufficient equipment.
The Covid-19 crisis, however, has now forced the hypocritical Rowley Government to open the Couva Hospital and use its 250 beds, MRI machine and ventilators to treat patients.
How many desperate, suffering citizens have tragically died in the past five years due to improper public healthcare?
How many lives could have been saved if the inhumane Rowley Government had simply opened the Couva Hospital?
This country will be completely destroyed if the corrupt, destructive Rowley regime gets another term in office.
A new UNC Government will open the Couva Children’s Hospital as a matter of priority.
We’ll also undertake significant health sector reform to effectively and urgently rectify the many ills of public health institutions. This country’s resources do not belong to select friends and family of the Rowley Government.
It’s time to return T&T to its rightful owners—its CITIZENS. Together we can rebuild our nation into a place of progress, health and equality for all.
