Minister can’t say when mental health facility will open
(CNS): Answering a parliamentary question on Wednesday, Health Minister Sabrina Turner was unable to say when the new residential mental health centre will open because the decision lies with the Public Works Department and building inspectors. The facility, which will be called Poinciana, is now well behind schedule as the completion date has been put back time and time again. It should have opened to patients last summer but the project has been plagued with what the minister described as a plethora of problems since work began on it in 2019.
Responding to a question from opposition member Barbara Conolly (GTS) about plans to get patients currently in overseas institutions repatriated to Cayman, Turner admitted that she was unable to give a date. She told the MPs and the listening public that three of the buildings had received certificates of special permission occupancy, which “was a step in the right direction”, but the opening date was beyond her control and that of her ministry because of the inspection process.
Nevertheless, the minister attempted to remain optimistic, saying that getting the special certificate was “one step closer to opening our doors”.
Turner said the certificates covered the cafeteria, administration building and activity centre, which meant that the 22 current employees would now be able to begin working at the facility in East End, including making the preparation to receive patients. To date, those workers, who are being paid their full salaries, have been working on policy development and procurement, among other things, but they could now move on to work at the actual site.
She said that the management team will be able to begin preparations for the facility to receive the residents. The second phase will be the actual repatriation of the residents, and staff will accompany most of those patients on their return to Cayman to ensure a safe transition.
The minister noted that the current administration had inherited the project and its “plethora of problems” that had led to the failure to secure the necessary occupancy certificates years after work started. While the pandemic has been blamed for some of the delays, the real problems relate to the electrical work, which led to significant safety concerns.
The much-needed facility has been designed to provide long-term care to people with severe mental health challenges, who will be housed in nine cottages alongside the three buildings that have now been given special clearance. Originally expected to cost around CI$15 million, costs have already escalated to almost $22 million.
Frustrated by the minister’s inability to give any idea when Poinciana will open, Conolly persisted, saying that she must have some idea of the timeline. “We have waited far too long for this facility to be opened,” she said, noting that nearly all MPs had constituents who will be residents, and they needed to know when it will open, as she called for a sense of urgency.
But Turner said she really could not offer a timeline as it was in the hands of PWD, and the issues must be addressed before patients can be safely admitted.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Category: Health, Mental Health
Customary CIG project mismanagement. Not even put into use before being effectively abandoned and allowed to rot away.
Another glorious day for the civil service……time for more awards franz!
why is anyone surprised at the shocking level of incompetence of the civil service???
excuse the political incorrectness…but civil service is a social welfare work placement programme for poorly educated locals who are unable to get real jobs in the private sector…
if we can’t face facts we will never find the solution.
The electrical work is shoddy? Why has this just emerged at inspection stage? What about stage sign offs? Where’s the architects and engineers overseeing the project? Why haven’t the problems been set out and a time frame for resolution decided?
Because for a change they don’t want to be the first to be signed in!
Private sector contractors strikes again. Now CIG has to clean up their shuddy work.
shoddy electrical work. the public should be aware of who this company is so they are black balled from any future public projects. we the stakeholders are always in the dark.
Sabrina has been a grave disappointment. Long on talk, short on action.
Ok, it’s time for an FOI on this one.
Who exactly designed this thing?
Who reviewed said drawings in BCU?
Who built it?
Is it built to the drawings?
What is wrong with the electrical that’s so bad that it cannot be passed?
CNS or Compass needs to do a deep dive into what’s going on at BCU. From all accounts within industry, the behavior of their staff and the passing or failing of drawings and inspections is, at this point, criminally negligent.
You can have two inspectors review the same building and one will pass it, the other will fail it. A third will fail it but for different reasons. Then you fix whatever was wrong, call them back, and they fail it for something else.
I have tremendous respect for Haroon and what he deals with. However, everyone below him in BCU (not so much the planning side) has to go. People are wildly unqualified for the jobs they’re doing. The lack of professionalism and accountability is astounding.
Go on the planning.ky staff directory and start calling the numbers…see if a single person answers the phone. Then try the same with an email.
Time to fully restaff the whole department.
Why don’t you do it? FOI requests may be made by anyone. The press isn’t here to jump whenever some idle busybody tells them to do so.
Minister can’t say when mental health facility will open
That’s Crazy!
Senior staffing chaos can’t help. Importantly, this facility doesn’t relieve the heavy mental health load of resident patients in the Cayman Islands. Poinciana was built to repatriate Caymanians with serious observation needs that had to go off-island to get that care. Every bed was filled before the golden groundbreaking shovels hit the dirt. Its existence or non-existence, doesn’t address the mounting every day mental health load already resident. Even with an overcrowded prison, and early release of public danger career recidivists, there doesn’t seem to be a plan to fit reality.