MINISTER of Health and Wellness Dr Michael Darville yesterday. Photo: Leandra Rolle/Tribune Staff

A MAJOR jump in hospital admissions has left the Princess Margaret Hospital “bursting from the seams”, forcing health officials to have some patients re-located to Doctors Hospital West to receive medical care.

During a press conference yesterday, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said the situation became apparent due to a major influx of non-COVID patients seeking care at the hospital.

His disclosure came after healthcare workers raised the alarm with The Tribune about the overcrowding issues, describing the situation at PMH as being in “crisis mode”.

When contacted yesterday, Bahamas Nurses Union president Amancha Williams said she was informed that some 52 people were waiting to be admitted to the hospital.

Dr Darville later confirmed this to reporters, adding that PMH has partnered with Doctors Hospital West to house some 30 of those patients as a means to help alleviate the issue.

“What we are seeing is a large amount of individuals who suffer from chronic non-communicable diseases presenting at the Accident and Emergency (Department) here at the Princess Margaret Hospital,” Dr Darville said.

“Today, the situation has been in the overflow and the hospital is presently bursting from the seams. We had to intervene immediately and we’re here today because of the circumstances (and) we now have to move some of our patients here from the hospital to Doctors Hospital West that would allow us the breathing room in order for us to deal with the logistic challenges that we presently have.

“Our staff is working overtime. We do have a nursing shortage and we’re working to address the shortages.”

When asked about the costs associated with the move, Dr Darville would only say that the costs will be revealed at a later date.

‘Well, we’re actually in crisis mode,” he continued. “The economic impact associated with the transfer is something that we would have to address but the health and safety of the patients who are presently here at the PMH is paramount and so those questions will be answered later down the road, but I assure you that we will work closely with us to give us the best possible value for service.”

Ahead of yesterday’s press conference, a concerned health care worker, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Tribune that the health crisis had impacted some operations there, specifically the Emergency Medical Services department.

“What’s happening at the wards (they) are backed up with patients,” the employee said.

“When this occurs, they are already short on trolleys, which is what we would use when we come in with our stretchers and put the patients on. But, because they are short on trolleys, they are using the stretchers in manners which they are not supposed to. This is damaging the stretchers, so we are left with less and less.

“They didn’t order any new trolleys because it’s not in the budget and now with all of these admissions and they have all of our stretchers, which is now causing us not to be able to respond.”

When asked about this yesterday, Public Hospital Authority officials admitted that some patients waiting to be admitted were placed on trolleys, but noted the hospital “still had five ambulances that were on the road” able to respond to emergencies.

“At no point (was) there was no ambulances on the roads to be able to assist,” said Ms Aubynette Rolle, PHA managing director.

“However, when we do dispatch on both sides, whether Doctors Hospital or other healthcare facilities that may own ambulances, if one facility cannot respond, it’s automatic that they go to the rest so we are resolving that issue at this time.”

Hospital officials said they are working on several strategies to address the bed shortages among other logistical issues at the facility.

“We would have found a company that we will work with to be able to do modular units… so these units allow us now to be able to attend to the patient in a more dignified fashion,” Ms Rolle added.

For his part, Dr Darville said officials were also working aggressively to complete renovations at several clinics in hopes of getting “ our primary health care up and going” so people suffering from chronic non-communicable diseases could be treated sooner.

If so, then it is the vaxxed folks

Your supposition is a truly scary one.

Doctors like Minnis, Sands, Darville and the like all want to be involved as politicians in making decisions about the running of our country when they've all proven they can't even as senior medical doctors run our public health system.

Thank God these sicknesses are not caused by any improperly and insufficiently tested needle injections. It could not be the Covid injection, right? Cause we all "know" that was proven "safe and effective" which is why we have no cases of covid around today, right?

"individuals who suffer from chronic non-communicable diseases" ... i guess these diseases don't have names yet? LOL

It was the malaria. They are too busy contact tracing the mosquito.

stop admitting people to the hospital with the flu....all part of the plan. MONEY MONEY MONEY

Nobody wants to go to the hospital. People who go to the hospital for COVID most likely cant breathe. It's literally the only reason they'd admit them

Thanks to our corrupt, unjustly enriched, and elitist political ruling class, we have an awful lot of destitute and very hungry people in our country today who are willing to endure just about anything in the hope they will at least get one free meal. Sad, but true.

believe you, but no emergency room physician will admit someone because they're hungry. A&E is a high volume filter for low volume hospitals. No hospital system to date is designed to handle a large percentage of sick patients.

I find it EXTRAORDINARILY hard to believe that all of a sudden, a bunch of people, at the same time, saught care for their noncommunicable disease with absolutely no relationship to a COVID diagnosis. Now if you have high blood pressure that you been walking around normally for years with, and you caught COVID last week... well this week you might start to experience real difficulty breathing "and" elevated blood pressure. That makes sense. For this to happen across a community to unrelated people, it's a COVID spike. Regardless of how mild the variant is in healthy people, its deadly in people with non communicable diseases most especially obesity. Not to mention the elderly and immunocompromised

God forbid ....... But what if NP has a mass shooting or other major air or sea catastrophe that creates a real ER crisis (not NCD).

What will Dr. Darville do and say then????? He better stop crying wolf over this.

.. And, for anyone reading the statement crown minister, knows he ignores how for years, PMH has been bursting at seams. '... It's more than implied as the hospital's inability to provide for acceptable basic-level patient care, including putting onus on patients to solicit outside contacts brung them fresh beddings changes and edibles ... Increasingly placed further responsibility patients secure off-site hospital contacts willing to supply their must have treatment care medicines and healthcare supplies ... including clean hospital gowns. and adult diapers. ... Sorry for the advance shoutout to frontline medical care and support staff whose grappling with their pay cheques' may be delayed next week. ... PMH workers and patients all are deserving a fresh start. ― Yes?

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