WHEN I was growing up, there was the General Hospital there pon Jemmotts Lane wid the eye ward over the road ‘pon Bay Street.
Then the Errol Barow administration build the Queen Elizabeth Hospital ‘pon Martindales road, discarding the old one.
As the years went by, there was another one in St Peter; it was called The St Joseph Hospital, which tuh this day is surrounded by mystery.
I come along and hear hear all kinds o’ stories bout this hospital; then all kinds o’ reasons why it shut down and why it should or should not be opened. I hear a whole lot o’ talk ’bout who should or should not be operating it, and who is the cause or reason for it not being able tuh operate at all. But it there in St Peter rottening down.
Since then another hospital opened its doors there pon upper Bay Street where we used tuh call the Bayley Clinic, and later the Diagnostic Clinic.
We used tuh see this one as the place where the folk of a fairer complexion or the wealthy folk would be able tuh go; so then when duh open it as a hospital later, a lot o’ people thought dat it would ease some o’ the pressure off the QEH.
But it was a private hospital and very expensive, so we was back tuh square one wid only the QEH covering the whole island.
Then, like in the case of the Diagnostic, there was hope when we heard dat a number of rich business people had plans tuh open a big able modern hospital somewhere up there by Redmans Village in St Thomas.
This was around the time when duh was knocking down and rebuilding the Sandy Lane Hotel tuh make it even more plush.
Then duh take the golf course and carried it all the way out and up the hill tuh the highway; so a big plush fully equipped, efficiently run hospital in dat area would have been perfect.
Duh say dat the partners who were supposed tuh make it all happen was people like COW Williams, Kiffyn Simpson and the some rich folk like Dermott Desmond, JP McManus and somebody name John Magnier from the Sandy Lane group. I think duh had some more rich folk in there, but these are the ones dat I could vaguely remember.
I aint telling you nuh lie, when I read ’bout it in the papers, I was so happy; I coulda see the vision o’ these rich people.
Afterall, all o’ dem was pouring a bundle o’ money in tuh the West Coast in the hope of bringing in quality tourists tuh the island; and if by chance something major should happen down dat side o’ the island – God forbid, I think dat a big modern, fully equipped, well organised, well run and accessible hospital would be ideal in dat area.
But up tuh now I aint hear nutten more ’bout dat hospital. Since then Sandy Lane get brek down and duh sell out evahthing including the very gates. They since built back a brand new lavish hotel and golf course and still nuh word ’bout this hospital.
By now it is clear tuh evahbody, home and abroad, dat Barbados is in dire need of a hospital. When ya hear people criticising the QEH, ya does hear people come out in defense of it, saying dat it is the best hospital in the Caribbean. I aint have nuh problem wid dat but the best of wha? The best o’ the worst?
Mind you, I aint saying dat we aint got a good hospital, nor well qualified and very well trained medical people in there, but evahbody could see dat the hospital is overworked, the building is overworked, the elevators are overworked, the staff is overworked, evahthing and evahbody is overworked.
Instead o’ finding the money tuh build a brand new hospital somewhere else pon the island wid new modern facilities dat would boost staff morale, all ya hearing is politicians pussyfooting round the whole thing and pouring good money into the overworked QEH.
Wha’ I cahn understand is what the problem is? Sometimes I does ask myself if dem gine wait ’til something major happen, like wha’ happen up there at Glendairy Prison, before dem could do something bout it.
Evahbody know dat it aint fuh lack o’ space; duh got all kinds o’ land in St Phillip and duh could use a good hospital up there. And wha’ ’bout the very St Joseph hospital? Break it down and build it back nuh? Let bygones be bygones, evahbody could see dat ya need a hospital up there tuh cover all o’ dem northern parishes.
I hope dat deh people in authority would wake up soon and instead o’ the lot o’ long empty talk, do something bout building a brand new hospital before it is too late.
