A Community Health Worker from Fort Island is seeking the intervention of the Ministry of Health to have more staff on the Island.
Being a tourist island of 95 Community Members and with hundreds of tourists traversing the Island, only one health worker is present. This leaves some patients unattended when the health worker’s hands are tied.
Health Worker, Pretti Debodeen, said that given the need for at least a few more persons to help her, she is calling on the authorities to assist in making the relevant moves to bring some level of relief to the Island and to her.
“It’s difficult for me; I need assistance because in an emergency if I have to leave the health facility it will be unprotected. It is the same if I am on sick leave.
“I need assistance; a person to be there to assist in the various areas. And, when we talk about Fort Island, we are not saying Fort Island alone because we deal with a lot of the catchment areas. The persons from the various areas come here to get care.”
Debodeen explained that while the Island does not suffer from the lack of medication it becomes quite difficult to manage on her own.
At the time of the visit, Debodeen further explained that she is currently on sick leave. There is no one to care for the island residents.
She added that over time she had requested a person from the Ministry of Health. She would normally ask a person from the community to do the training so that they could be of assistance but to no avail.
“I ask people if they can go and train to become a nurse.”
She added that if this continues there could be a situation where a woman may have to deliver a baby without her presence and more.
“It had a delivery and I was not here. I was at the hospital and the person had delivered in the boat. These are things that I always talk about,” Debodeen said.
Ms. Debodeen said she hopes in the shortest possible time the Ministry of Health can find a way to remedy the situation.
Located at the mouth of the Essequibo River, the island bears an imprint of the Dutch in the form of two important structures – the Court of Policy and Fort Zeelandia. These are the military structures in Guyana that have served as a store, a church, a court, and now a well-curated museum.
