FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DR. DUANE SANDS, CHAIRMAN : Power Outage at PMH Exposes Deepening Healthcare Crisis Under PLP
Last week’s power outage at Princess Margaret Hospital should trouble every Bahamian. For hours, the hospital was without steady electricity. Critically ill patients, including those dependent on ventilators, were forced onto backup power, and the Minister of Health himself admitted how “concerning” it was. In this day and age, no Bahamian should ever have to worry about the lights going out in a hospital, the one place that must never go dark.
This is part of a deeper, ongoing crisis in our healthcare system. Under the PLP, shortages of medicines, cancer treatments, and even blood bags have become routine. Family Islands cannot count on regular supplies. Accident & Emergency is dangerously overcrowded, with as many as 60 patients waiting for a bed.
The severity of this failure becomes even clearer when we consider the risks we face during tropical storms like Imelda. Flooding and power outages are inevitable in storm season, but hospitals should be the safest and most prepared facilities in the country. Instead, we are forced to confront the frightening truth: the PLP has left us vulnerable at the very moment when Bahamians most need protection and care.
Behind every headline about outages and shortages are patients, parents, and children whose lives are at risk. Every Bahamian has a loved one who depends on our hospitals. I ask you to think about your own family. Think about the times when you or someone you love has had to wait hours in an overcrowded A&E, or been told that medicine or blood was unavailable, or received care in facilities that were far from clean or safe. That is not acceptable in a country like ours.
Bahamians deserve better. We deserve hospitals that never go dark, facilities that are stocked and safe, and a government that puts lives before excuses. The FNM is committed to restoring competence, accountability, and humanity to healthcare. We will not rest until every Bahamian can trust that when they need care, the system will be ready to serve them with dignity and safety.