The Board of Directors at the Millennium Heights Medical Complex (MHMC) came under fire recently, when Dr. Merle Clarke, the President of the St. Lucia Medical and Dental Association (SLMDA), wrote the Chairperson of the Board at the MHMC, expressing disgust with the state of affairs at the island’s main hospital – OKEU.
Addressed to Mrs. Joanna Reynold-Arthurton, Chairperson of the Board, the letter dated July 31, stated that the consensus of the physician body “is that the board of directors, ostensibly tasked with drafting policy to allow for the efficient running of the hospital, has failed miserably.”
“The problems are truly too numerous to quantify but we will attempt to highlight the most salient points coming out of a meeting of the consultant body. It is to be noted that these issues are not new and you have been made aware of them, but the situation has been allowed to deteriorate to such an extent that it is simply untenable at this point,” Clarke said in her letter.
According to Clarke, the letter (also highlighting flaws in Saint Lucia’s overall healthcare system), was written on behalf of the Physician body of the Owen King European Union Hospital (OKEU).
The letter also claims that that the focus of a significant proportion of the board’s membership appears to be solely on micromanagement and creating a toxic work environment as opposed to ensuring that conditions are in place to guarantee the best possible care to patients.
Clarke also pointed out that Saint Lucia has an aging population, one with a very high burden of chronic non-communicable disease, and said violence and road accidents also affect the population and deplete healthcare resources significantly.
“With this being contextualized how then can the hospital function or can we adequately do what we are trained to do; SAVING LIVES, without basic resources”, Clarke inquired.
“How are we to manage Diabetes and its complications without glucometers to monitor blood sugars? Are you aware that physicians have had to bring in their own supplies to ensure that patients with Diabetic Ketoacidosis (a life threatening complication of Diabetes) are monitored and managed? How are physicians expected to make critical life and death decisions in a patient with presumed Myocardial Infarct (Heart Attack) without basic things like ECGs (whether it be due to lack of ECG paper or not enough functioning ECG machines) or Cardiac biomarkers (Troponin)?” she added.
Furthermore, she said, “How are physicians expected to treat life threatening illnesses without the basic drugs that allow us to provide standard of care management?”
At a pre-Cabinet press briefing on Monday, Prime Minister Philip J Pierre responded to Clarke’s comments, noting that the concerns were not new and that the SLDMA had expressed similar sentiments before.
He told reporters that he would meet with the SLMDA soon after.
“I want no conflict with any doctor, nurse or health worker. The SLMDA have had concerns before, these concerns are not new. We understand it, we empathise with them and we’re going to meet them to see if we can have an approach to alleviate these circumstances. The first issue was the emergency services at the hospital. I met with them and we decided that we are going to immediately look for some more space for the emergency ward. That work is supposed to start anytime now. I want to assure you that we’re going to meet with them tomorrow and we’ll use the government’s best efforts to alleviate the condition,” Pierre said on Monday.
Prior to that, Pierre, at the Saint Lucia Labour Party’s Youth Organization Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday, told supporters that they should not worry about “all the nonsense talking about… our health services collapsing. We are going to speak to the doctors and the nurses and we’re going to resolve these issues. We’re (not) fighting no war with no nurse or no doctor.”