New Peebles Hospital not the ultimate cure to complicated health matters
BVI News Staff - Wednesday, July 18th, 2012 at 2:01 PM
New Peebles Hospital
Minister for Health Ronnie Skelton said that although the territory will still have to refer complicated matters overseas when the new hospital is completed, it is good to know that there are great options within the region.
The minister explained on the July 16 NDP radio programme that the new hospital will not be the end of medical ambulance flights overseas.
“Even when the hospital is finished we will still have to depend on other hospitals for some level of care because we will never be able to handle all level of care here in the British Virgin Islands,” Skelton said.
In the meantime, the health minister stated that government has been looking within the region to ensure that residents receive the best care when they have to travel. He announced that arrangements, and in some instances, visits were made with facilities in Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Panama.
“We have travelled to Puerto Rico, Panama and Jamaica because while we build this facility (new hospital) we still have to continue to look and make sure that our people get the medical attention that is needed. In Puerto Rico we have made temporary arrangements with HIMA hospital system to get people who need any care that they can provide to them. That arrangement is working, it’s costing money but the other alternative is not an option,” the minister stated.
Skelton also mentioned that persons went to Jamaica for medical care: “In Jamaica we have sent quite a number of people to the hospital. There are two overseas right now. So far it looks like they are doing well.”
He said a team visited Panama and were impressed with what they saw: “In Panama, which was very surprising to me, the technology that I have seen …there is no question that we can get good care in Panama, which is just a half an hour away from Puerto Rico. So, if you leave from here you can get to Panama in an air ambulance in a little over an hour, so that is an option we are investigating as much as possible.”
Deputy Premier Dr. Kedrick Pickering, who was also on the show, explained that Panama has opted as part of their economic development to invest very strongly in healthcare and health care facilities.
“Part of their marketing strategy is to become the referral centre for both Latin America and the Caribbean,” he said. “They (Panama) want the whole Latin America and Caribbean people to refer complicated cases to them instead of sending them to Miami. It works out in Panama to be significantly less expensive than having to send persons to the US with the same level or probably higher level of care.”
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21 Comments
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You can build a multimillion dollars building and call it a hospital, but if you donot have modern technology and adequately skilled, competent, compassionate and caring people then all the money you have spent is just a waste.
Will that building we call the new hospital ever be occupied?? What has been swept under the rug?
What’s needed and sorely missing, is a new attitude towards health and wellness.
Looking around and especially at the next generation. this hospital or any other hospital for that matter, will be inadequate.
Starting with the environment, a conscious effort towards clean living for all,with every breath of a clean air with less vehicle pollutants, and the consumption of organic foods, breakfast, lunch and dinner could be our medicine and the kitchen our pharmacy..
Our bodies and quality of life, the treasury, our bank accounts too, and our minds and actions will be healthier.
Sovereignty not an issue when we cannot treat our own people.
Only when we want a bigger airport.
What is going on with the sense in this country? More important for Sovereignty that we can care for our own than to have direct fights to another country.
Ministers are in a muddle and I fear Hon. Skelton is telling the truth.
Buzz, your condescending tone is sickening! There are major countries with major hospitals that have to fly patients to other specialized institutions depending on the situation. There are people that have been flown from Puerto Rico to the US Mainland for treatment. There are people that have been flown from USVI to the US Mainland or elsewhere for treatment. There have been people flown from Jamaica and Trinidad, both of which have very good hospitals, for treatment. You all pick at everything to make it political, what the man said is true.
Based on your logic, all states in the USA should be able to take care of ALL emergencies and not have to fly them to other states within the US. That is RUBBISH! It’s obvious that with the new hospital we can treat a lot of things here but the truth is many situations such as brain trauma would need additional expertise.
Your thought are well taken.
My gripe about the whole hospital project is incompetence coupled with poor planning. The whole matter is just sickening. I would rather not believe it’s willful abuse of taxpayers money.
The monies that were wasted could been better utilized to build a first class hospital with health care delivery systems to lead the entire region.
They could have build a hospital on Virgin Gorda with some of the money they wasted.
The hospital needs a chapel. Wellness or wholeness must include a spiritual component for workers and patients. Without this element its service will prove lacking.
What I am saying is that politicians are in a muddle about Sovereignty and have no consistency. Just bring out Buzz words when it suits them. At least I see we agree that Hon. Skelton is telling the truth. Guess you missed that.
I also guess that US States being States of the US, ie. United States of the same country, that they do not have sovereignty issues so I guess on that logic you are not making sense.
Now lets here the truth about this BVI sovereignty Nonsense.
Sounds like our HUGE hospital was/is a white elephant. Waste of money and still not operational. The UK govt. really needs to oversee the BVI’s capital projects!
Do you not read and listen to the news, or read the blogs?
How do you expect the hospital to be operational, when in fact a contract was recently issued for its completion.
The UK is not interested in overseeing our projects, but rather in preventing us becoming a debtor nation like most of the other Caribbean countries. That is why we have very strict borrowing guidelines.
Hospitals are very complex to build and operate. Very strict engineering standards have to be made. The HOSPITAL will be fully operational before Christmas next year.
Heard that before….LOL
Have we not heard that recording before? That is the company line.
Propagandist!!! Telling what truth. More interested in driving traffic to the site than content.
Sensationalism sells….but only for a while.
People’s eyes are open, and are a lot more discerning than you might imagine.
Mount Peebles. Central Admin. Palace, and now White Elephant are all familiar terms we have had to endure from time to tome.
But, that does not phase us; it is your democratic right to be condemned to disbelief, or even be mildly mischievous. This is the BVI. You will learn. Have you seen Vandermolden, or Tony Edwards lately?
Please give them my regards when you do.
You just realizing this? From the moment they broke ground to excavate that hillside, I cried Whit Elephant!!!
Would these facilities accept the Bupa Insurance?
Yes. BUPA Insurance is already being presented and accepted at the hospital.
This is an advance warning. So don’t be surprised when you hear “we can’t treat that.” That’s a lot of money for a clinic if you asked me.
JUST FINISH IT! The ting building for mussy ova 10 years now
What Ronnie has said is factual, logical, and common sense.
The USA provides the highest level of Tertiary medical care in the world, but it is extremely expensive. Most countries refer their most complicated and cases requiring novel procedures there.
Our catchment population including the local pop of 30,000 and tourist population of 750,000 to 950,000 demands at a minimum the hospital facilities that we are providing.
However, the frequency of certain complicated cases will be insufficient to keep certain specialties on staff full time.
For a number of elective procedures, visiting specialists would be sufficient. We have seen this already at both Peebles Hospital, and more vivid recently at at the Bouganvilla Clinic
So please stop trying, Critic to dumb down, and deride our efforts with your sarcasm and foolish statements such as the one above. You Know Better!!!!!!
well why are we spending all this money…just to say we have a big hospital?
Should we keep brain surgeons and other highly paid and highly trained specialists on staff, paying them just to be on standby? Even in America, people have to be flown from one state major hospital to another because of the severity of the situation.
Refreshing honesty from Ronnie. Our country only has 25,000 people in it. Of course we are going to have to travel for some types of procedures.
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