We have heard the hospital project referred to as a baby. However it is a really a teenager, 14 years old.
It is about time! And the people of Tobago must be highly commended for their fortitude, their patience and the dignity with which they held out, given the hospital’s history since construction started. I also charge you Trinidad and Tobago to ensure that the rest of the hospital is done.
What was meant to be an essential service delivered; a vital facility for the health and wellbeing of people; a signal of advancement and of better to come...became a dreadful symbol of shame.
Tobago, I am sorry!
This was not a disaster of our making, but it was an issue, which I mandated, must be resolved! And here we are today, making you the promise that for as long as the People’s Partnership Government continues, we will never allow history to repeat itself in this way.
Tobago stands side by side with Trinidad and with this People’s Partnership Administration, we will commit to that, and demonstrate that in every single undertaking.
With today’s commissioning of services, I hope that we can now put the past where it ought to be...in the past...and take this momentous occasion as your victory.
You will recall my pledge that all of my Government’s public policy will place people at the forefront. Particularly where Health Sector Policies are concerned, people must be at the centre and more than that, the health, wellbeing and care for people.
The development of a strong and responsive health sector is just one of the ways that sustainability will be achieved.
Sustainability relies upon the well-being of our people and our ability to provide care that is needed, when it is needed and with the capacity that is needed.
This Hospital is therefore only one in a series of steps that will ensure we deliver on our promise to take superior health care to the people from conception to your final breath.
I must say that this Hospital project has truly been a team effort, and it has shown that indeed, partnership is the vital factor in making dreams into reality. Give a round of applause to all those who made this a reality.
I therefore sincerely thank the Ministry of Health, the Tobago House of Assembly and the Tobago Regional Health Authority for working together to make the dream of a full service hospital for the people of Tobago a reality.
As I mentioned earlier, the commissioning of services at the Hospital is being done in phases. All services will be commissioned over the course of the coming months.
The Scarborough General Hospital will stand as a state of the art health facility, a model, for the Health Sector Reform Programme. Our focus is on a significant reallocation of the requisite resources from secondary to ambulatory and primary care.
Core to this redirection is the shift from inpatient care to outpatient care. The management of the mitigation practices at the new Scarborough General Hospital therefore is an extremely critical success factor.
You have heard me say that I do not want to build big buildings; I want to build schools and hospitals. We have recently turned the sod in Couva for the Children’s Hospital among others.
The new hospital facility is also designed to eliminate the current problems of congestion and overcrowding, poor workability, and a crippling of efficiency experienced at the Regional Hospital.
I visited the Scarborough Hospital for Mother’s Day last year and was appalled at the conditions for both the patients and staff, and I acknowledge the hard work of the staff who have toiled in these appalling conditions over the years through dedication.
This new General Hospital will provide appropriate care for the chronically ill and our treasured senior citizens, while supporting the integration of primary care and community service into a total system of health care.
Further, we are utilising Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the operation and management of this Hospital at all levels to further enhance our thrust to maximum efficiency in the delivery of healthcare services.
This initial phase also includes the implementation of a patient registration service to properly identify every patient interfacing with healthcare services. Each patient will receive an e-Health card, which shall be the primary means by which he or she will access health services at the hospital.
One major health concern that has occupied the attention of the Government, through our Minister of Health, is obesity which carries with it key risk factors in the development of Chronic Non Communicable Diseases, itself a major concern for us in Trinidad and Tobago.
At the United Nations General Assembly on Chronic Non Communicable Diseases in New York last year, I shared with those present that we must promote health and prevent those “man made” factors that contribute to CNCDs.
The frontier for chronic disease prevention must be diverted from the treatment of disease, to reducing the risk factors within the population.
We must pay special attention to our children as well, as they have not been spared from the scourge of CNCDs.
I have been particularly disturbed to learn that one quarter of our school-aged children are overweight or obese. And even more troubled to learn that Type II diabetes, which was previously referred to as adult onset diabetes, is now increasingly being found in adolescents.
I am confident that you will share my concern and also share my sense of responsibility to ensure that we do all that we must to protect the lives, safety and health of our children.
If our children are sick today, what does it say about the nation we are creating for ourselves, and for them, tomorrow? Knowing the problem is only half of the solution, our action and determination to guard our children’s health represents the other half.
And as all of you know, my government takes very seriously and gives deep and close attention to ensuring that we protect the lives, health, safety and environment our children will grow up in.
We must take extreme precaution to protect the future of our children from the threat of chronic diseases.
The Government, through the Ministry of Health has been investing heavily with time and resources into prevention and health education.
Last May, Cabinet approved the appointment of the Partners Forum Working Committee for action on chronic diseases. This is a multi-sectoral committee comprising the Chambers of Commerce, the Manufacturers Association, academic institutions, NGOs and several public sector agencies.
As its first mandate, the Partners' Forum is working to develop industry-led agreements to reduce salt and sugar in locally produced foods Other policies that address social determinants of chronic diseases include:
And in keeping with our focus on health education and disease prevention, we are re-focusing our health systems and services to promote health, facilitate early detection and more effective management of chronic diseases.
The Ministry of Health has advanced the infrastructure of community health centres to include Wellness Centres and has sought to re-orient our health centre services towards promoting population wellbeing.
These Wellness Centres are equipped with exercise equipment and provide guided physical exercise sessions by trained Exercise Instructors two to three times a week.
They also integrate health screening and nutrition education that facilitate monitoring of indicators of health and achieving a healthy weight.
In other sectors our strong efforts to promote health and prevent NCDs include:
In this year where we celebrate our nation’s independence Golden Jubilee, let’s send a strong signal to our Caribbean neighbours and global partners that we have grown up as a nation.
Let us show that the true meaning of the saying – our health is our wealth. For it is all of us who will take our twin-island nation into tomorrow, and we have every intention of delivering a nation that is safe, prosperous and most of all, healthy!
I say Here’s to Tobago! And together we say Here’s to Trinidad and Tobago! Here’s to a future that we will all build together!
It is about time! And the people of Tobago must be highly commended for their fortitude, their patience and the dignity with which they held out, given the hospital’s history since construction started. I also charge you Trinidad and Tobago to ensure that the rest of the hospital is done.
What was meant to be an essential service delivered; a vital facility for the health and wellbeing of people; a signal of advancement and of better to come...became a dreadful symbol of shame.
Tobago, I am sorry!
This was not a disaster of our making, but it was an issue, which I mandated, must be resolved! And here we are today, making you the promise that for as long as the People’s Partnership Government continues, we will never allow history to repeat itself in this way.
Tobago stands side by side with Trinidad and with this People’s Partnership Administration, we will commit to that, and demonstrate that in every single undertaking.
With today’s commissioning of services, I hope that we can now put the past where it ought to be...in the past...and take this momentous occasion as your victory.
You will recall my pledge that all of my Government’s public policy will place people at the forefront. Particularly where Health Sector Policies are concerned, people must be at the centre and more than that, the health, wellbeing and care for people.
The development of a strong and responsive health sector is just one of the ways that sustainability will be achieved.
Sustainability relies upon the well-being of our people and our ability to provide care that is needed, when it is needed and with the capacity that is needed.
This Hospital is therefore only one in a series of steps that will ensure we deliver on our promise to take superior health care to the people from conception to your final breath.
I must say that this Hospital project has truly been a team effort, and it has shown that indeed, partnership is the vital factor in making dreams into reality. Give a round of applause to all those who made this a reality.
I therefore sincerely thank the Ministry of Health, the Tobago House of Assembly and the Tobago Regional Health Authority for working together to make the dream of a full service hospital for the people of Tobago a reality.
As I mentioned earlier, the commissioning of services at the Hospital is being done in phases. All services will be commissioned over the course of the coming months.
The Scarborough General Hospital will stand as a state of the art health facility, a model, for the Health Sector Reform Programme. Our focus is on a significant reallocation of the requisite resources from secondary to ambulatory and primary care.
Core to this redirection is the shift from inpatient care to outpatient care. The management of the mitigation practices at the new Scarborough General Hospital therefore is an extremely critical success factor.
You have heard me say that I do not want to build big buildings; I want to build schools and hospitals. We have recently turned the sod in Couva for the Children’s Hospital among others.
The new hospital facility is also designed to eliminate the current problems of congestion and overcrowding, poor workability, and a crippling of efficiency experienced at the Regional Hospital.
I visited the Scarborough Hospital for Mother’s Day last year and was appalled at the conditions for both the patients and staff, and I acknowledge the hard work of the staff who have toiled in these appalling conditions over the years through dedication.
This new General Hospital will provide appropriate care for the chronically ill and our treasured senior citizens, while supporting the integration of primary care and community service into a total system of health care.
Further, we are utilising Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the operation and management of this Hospital at all levels to further enhance our thrust to maximum efficiency in the delivery of healthcare services.
This initial phase also includes the implementation of a patient registration service to properly identify every patient interfacing with healthcare services. Each patient will receive an e-Health card, which shall be the primary means by which he or she will access health services at the hospital.
One major health concern that has occupied the attention of the Government, through our Minister of Health, is obesity which carries with it key risk factors in the development of Chronic Non Communicable Diseases, itself a major concern for us in Trinidad and Tobago.
At the United Nations General Assembly on Chronic Non Communicable Diseases in New York last year, I shared with those present that we must promote health and prevent those “man made” factors that contribute to CNCDs.
The frontier for chronic disease prevention must be diverted from the treatment of disease, to reducing the risk factors within the population.
We must pay special attention to our children as well, as they have not been spared from the scourge of CNCDs.
I have been particularly disturbed to learn that one quarter of our school-aged children are overweight or obese. And even more troubled to learn that Type II diabetes, which was previously referred to as adult onset diabetes, is now increasingly being found in adolescents.
I am confident that you will share my concern and also share my sense of responsibility to ensure that we do all that we must to protect the lives, safety and health of our children.
If our children are sick today, what does it say about the nation we are creating for ourselves, and for them, tomorrow? Knowing the problem is only half of the solution, our action and determination to guard our children’s health represents the other half.
And as all of you know, my government takes very seriously and gives deep and close attention to ensuring that we protect the lives, health, safety and environment our children will grow up in.
We must take extreme precaution to protect the future of our children from the threat of chronic diseases.
The Government, through the Ministry of Health has been investing heavily with time and resources into prevention and health education.
Last May, Cabinet approved the appointment of the Partners Forum Working Committee for action on chronic diseases. This is a multi-sectoral committee comprising the Chambers of Commerce, the Manufacturers Association, academic institutions, NGOs and several public sector agencies.
As its first mandate, the Partners' Forum is working to develop industry-led agreements to reduce salt and sugar in locally produced foods Other policies that address social determinants of chronic diseases include:
- Policy on Poverty Eradication
- Policy on Education for all and free education up to tertiary level
- Policy on School Health
- Increasing of Taxation of tobacco
- Breathalyzer Statute
- General Assistance for the needy providing Dietary Grant, Pharmaceutical and Medical Equipment Grant
And in keeping with our focus on health education and disease prevention, we are re-focusing our health systems and services to promote health, facilitate early detection and more effective management of chronic diseases.
The Ministry of Health has advanced the infrastructure of community health centres to include Wellness Centres and has sought to re-orient our health centre services towards promoting population wellbeing.
These Wellness Centres are equipped with exercise equipment and provide guided physical exercise sessions by trained Exercise Instructors two to three times a week.
They also integrate health screening and nutrition education that facilitate monitoring of indicators of health and achieving a healthy weight.
In other sectors our strong efforts to promote health and prevent NCDs include:
- Implementation of the School Feeding Program, that seeks to provide balanced, healthy meals for children attending primary and secondary schools, by the Ministry of Education
- Provision of recreational spaces through Local Government, with walking tracks and outdoor exercise equipment within communities to facilitate physical activity
- A technical cooperation project with the US/Mexico border to begin utilising gender approaches to the management of non-communicable diseases including diabetes
In this year where we celebrate our nation’s independence Golden Jubilee, let’s send a strong signal to our Caribbean neighbours and global partners that we have grown up as a nation.
Let us show that the true meaning of the saying – our health is our wealth. For it is all of us who will take our twin-island nation into tomorrow, and we have every intention of delivering a nation that is safe, prosperous and most of all, healthy!
I say Here’s to Tobago! And together we say Here’s to Trinidad and Tobago! Here’s to a future that we will all build together!
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