At the PLP’s Monday night rally, Minister of Health and Wellness and Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) incumbent for Tall Pines Dr. Michael Darville slammed Free National Movement (FNM) Chairman Dr. Duane Sands for his performance as minister of health under the last FNM administration.
Darville warned Bahamians that they cannot trust the FNM, which has been heavily critical of the Davis administration’s healthcare efforts amid public scrutiny of the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH).
A major point of contention has been the new specialty hospital that will be constructed in New Providence in the Perpall Tract area, with the FNM arguing that the Davis administration should have first focused on repairing and renovating PMH before stepping into another major project.
FNM candidate for Fort Charlotte Travis Robinson has said that the FNM would cancel the project.
But ahead of next week’s general election, Darville urged voters not to listen to the opposition.
“Nurses cannot trust Duane Sands, health workers cannot trust Duane Sands because under Duane Sands, the FNM they waited, waited, and waited,” Darville told the crowd of PLP supporters.
“They waited on agreements, they waited on fairness, they waited on respect, and what did the FNM leave behind in healthcare? Delay, frustration, crumbling buildings, and old excuses.
“No new hospital for Grand Bahama, no new hospital for New Providence. That’s the God’s truth.
“And now after all that, Duane Sands has the nerve to say that the Davis-led administration did nothing for healthcare.
“Let me tell you something else he said. Sands expressed disappointment in the Ministry of Health’s accomplishments and his performance during his time in office. He said he thinks more could have been accomplished.
“His own words, his own confession, his own admission. He is telling you that under his watch, health did not get what it deserved. He’s telling you that under his watch, big problems were not dealt with adequately.”
Despite pushback from residents and political figures on the new hospital, the government has held the line on the construction, explaining that the new facility will benefit Bahamians and relieve the strained state of the healthcare system.
Darville previously said that it is difficult to renovate PMH while it is the only public hospital on the island and patients are actively being treated within the hospital.
While opposing the FNM’s scrutiny, he highlighted progress made by the PLP in the last four years, including the groundbreaking of the new hospital, the upkeep, renovation, and construction of clinics across the country, the catastrophic health fund, the introduction of cataract eye surgeries, and increased trainings at the Public Health Authority (PHA) Academy.
He accused the FNM of having no real plan to tackle the healthcare system.
“What’s the FNM’s answer?” Darville said.
“To cancel. Delay. Attack the project. Duane Sands called for the proposed New Providence hospital and he said it was a dumb idea. So let me say it so you can hear it. The FNM wants to cancel the Nassau hospital deal. They want to leave Bahamians in the old Princess Margaret Hospital.
“They do not have a plan. They do not have a strategy for the future.
He said, “Our blueprint for change and our blueprint for progress says exactly what we’re going to do in our next term in office.
“A new hospital for New Providence, a new hospital for Grand Bahama. Expanded NHI drug coverage for the poor. Expanded NHI drug coverage for the poor, with free medications to treat non-communicable diseases.”
The PLP’s blueprint for progress also includes the implementation of a 24-hour mental health and suicide prevention line, healthcare inclusive of labs and diagnostics on each Family Island, health insurance for all public servants including contract workers, and telemedicine on all major Family Islands.
