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Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter The cash-strapped Ministry of Health is bleeding millions of dollars providing security for hospitals and health centres across the island.
With several attacks on medical facilities in recent months, the health ministry has increased the number of guards at some facilities, while putting new security personnel at others which were previously unmanned.
Dr Jean Dixon, per-manent secretary in the ministry, disclosed Tuesday that it costs more than $1 million annually for each security guard that is contracted at a health facility.
"Many of our facilities have become soft targets .... . It is costing us on average about $1.4 million per security guard per location," Dixon told Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
She hinted that the security
fears were one of the reasons some health authorities fail to follow the Government's procurement guidelines to the letter.
"There are contracts that are changed because a health centre that is not normally under attack is now under attack and people just change a contract to take on a security guard for a facility," Dixon said.
"There is one facility where we have about 30 security guards at that location," added Dixon.
This would leave administrators at that facility with a bill of $42 million each year for security cost alone.
The permanent secretary expressed regret that the already scarce resources of the health ministry were being spent on security when so much money is needed to look after sick Jamaicans.
But Dixon made it clear that this level of expenditure could not be sustained.
Considering surveillance
She told the members of the parliamentary committee that the health ministry was considering the introduction of electronic surveillance systems and a redesign of some facilities to make them less vulnerable to attacks.
"A few weeks ago, the minister (Rudyard Spencer) discussed this matter with PAHO (Pan American Health Organisation) and has asked for some assistance to [conduct a security] audit of some of our facilities," Dixon said.
The bureaucrat noted that Jamaica was not the only country where health facilities have come under attack and said every effort is being made to make the country's hospitals and health centres safe.
Dixon's statement Tuesday came less than three months after attacks on some health facilities in the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) forced the health minister to order an immediate review of security arrangements at hospitals and health centres in that region.
Responding to a second robbery at the Bustamante Hospital for Children. the invasion of the Spanish Town Hospital by gunmen and the fatal shooting of a man at the Rollington Town Clinic, Spencer demanded a plan to ensure the safety of persons at these institutions.
Those attacks came a short while after criminals struck at the St Jago Health Centre in St Catherine and the Princess Margaret Hospital in St Thomas.
Lyttleton 'Tanny' Shirley, chairman of SERHA, echoed the views of the entire health sector when he condemned those incidents.
"This is definitely a clear indication that these thugs have no regard for our health facilities and the work we do to provide health care to the people of Jamaica," said Shirley, to applause from nurses, doctors, porters and other workers in the sector.
arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com
With several attacks on medical facilities in recent months, the health ministry has increased the number of guards at some facilities, while putting new security personnel at others which were previously unmanned.
Dr Jean Dixon, per-manent secretary in the ministry, disclosed Tuesday that it costs more than $1 million annually for each security guard that is contracted at a health facility.
"Many of our facilities have become soft targets .... . It is costing us on average about $1.4 million per security guard per location," Dixon told Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
She hinted that the security
fears were one of the reasons some health authorities fail to follow the Government's procurement guidelines to the letter.
"There are contracts that are changed because a health centre that is not normally under attack is now under attack and people just change a contract to take on a security guard for a facility," Dixon said.
"There is one facility where we have about 30 security guards at that location," added Dixon.
This would leave administrators at that facility with a bill of $42 million each year for security cost alone.
The permanent secretary expressed regret that the already scarce resources of the health ministry were being spent on security when so much money is needed to look after sick Jamaicans.
But Dixon made it clear that this level of expenditure could not be sustained.
Considering surveillance
She told the members of the parliamentary committee that the health ministry was considering the introduction of electronic surveillance systems and a redesign of some facilities to make them less vulnerable to attacks.
"A few weeks ago, the minister (Rudyard Spencer) discussed this matter with PAHO (Pan American Health Organisation) and has asked for some assistance to [conduct a security] audit of some of our facilities," Dixon said.
The bureaucrat noted that Jamaica was not the only country where health facilities have come under attack and said every effort is being made to make the country's hospitals and health centres safe.
Dixon's statement Tuesday came less than three months after attacks on some health facilities in the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) forced the health minister to order an immediate review of security arrangements at hospitals and health centres in that region.
Responding to a second robbery at the Bustamante Hospital for Children. the invasion of the Spanish Town Hospital by gunmen and the fatal shooting of a man at the Rollington Town Clinic, Spencer demanded a plan to ensure the safety of persons at these institutions.
Those attacks came a short while after criminals struck at the St Jago Health Centre in St Catherine and the Princess Margaret Hospital in St Thomas.
Lyttleton 'Tanny' Shirley, chairman of SERHA, echoed the views of the entire health sector when he condemned those incidents.
"This is definitely a clear indication that these thugs have no regard for our health facilities and the work we do to provide health care to the people of Jamaica," said Shirley, to applause from nurses, doctors, porters and other workers in the sector.
arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com