The institute’s president lamented that “This incident sends a frightening signal to tourist that unless you are wealthy do not vacation in Trinidad & Tobago because, God forbids, if you get sick you may be denied treatment and may die or be killed like Mr. Sookram,” April 8, 2014 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jevon Suralie, Director of Communications Tel: 347-403-9092. Email: Caribbeaninstitute@gmail CGID blasts T&T Hospital for refusing to treat Guyanese tourist causing his death NEW YORK: The President of the New York based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID), Rickford Burke, Tuesday blasted Trinidad & Tobago’s Eric Williams Medical Center, Mt. Hope Hospital, for causing the death of a Guyanese man on vacation in Trinidad & Tobago after hospital officials refused to treat him in the emergency room unless he paid up front. The young-man, Jeetindra Sookram, who was complaining of severe chest pains died without being treated as his wife attempted to dash him to another medical facility. Mt. Hope Hospital officials demanded advance payment because he was not a citizen of Trinidad & Tobago. His death has triggered widespread outrage in Guyana and the region. CGID has joined the growing chorus demanding that hospital officials be penalized. Burke ripped into the twin-island Republic hospital officials, calling their conduct appallingly inhumane and potentially criminal. Sookram, 35, and his wife, Vidya Bachu, a Guyanese couple, were on a two-week vacation in Trinidad & Tobago when he suddenly developed severe chest pains - a leading symptom of angina or heart attack. His wife rushed him to the Mt Hope Hospital where on arrival they were told that they had to pay in advance for emergency treatment because the dying man was not a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago. The couple did not have money to pay for treatment at the time. Hence, Sookram was denied emergency medical care and turned away from the hospital. He later died in the parking lot while on the way to another medical institution. “I believe the conduct of the officials at the Eric Williams Medical Center was reckless, negligent and potentially criminal. It is shocking that personnel from a flagship medical institution of a Caricom nation can be so stunningly inhumane to a fellow Caricom Citizen. We all bear a common passport with the Caricom insignia Burke said in a statement. The Guyanese born head of CGID said that it was ironic that the a medical institution named after a founder of Caricom, Dr. Eric Williams, would recklessly deny life-saving emergency medical treatment to a Caricom national on the basis of nationality. “Such cruelty not only defies humanity but the vision of Dr. Eric Williams for Caribbean integration,” Burke posited. The demonstrable lack of humanity and the callous stripping away of Mr. Sookrams human rights and dignity are antithetical to the values and mission of a medical institution. It is also an egregious transgression the oath of professional responsibilities of the medical profession who first duty is to save lives, he observed. The institute’s president lamented that “This incident sends a frightening signal to tourist that unless you are wealthy do not vacation in Trinidad & Tobago because, God forbids, if you get sick you may be denied treatment and may die or be killed like Mr. Sookram,” He called on the government of Trinidad & Tobago to take swift, stern action against the culpable parties.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Apr 2014 11:22:52 +0000