From soup kitchen, a protest was born
Medical Clinic protest organiser Jenny Brooks said she felt the need to stand up for people who may be easy for Government to ignore.
During the question and answer period with Premier Ewart Brown, he appeared to question her ability to represent the clinic population by asking: “Are you a patient? You speak on behalf of some of the people here. I don’t know how that happened, but OK.”
Miss Brooks argued she had interviewed patients and visited the clinic and was therefore in a better position to speak on behalf of the clinics’ patients than the Premier.
Several hundred people have signed Miss Brooks’ petition calling for Government to reverse its decision to shut the clinic.
Miss Brooks said her idea for the petition came from her work with the Salvation Army, where she volunteers every Friday delivering food from their soup kitchen.
She said: “As I would go around and feed people around town I would hear about the hospital clinic being closed down. One man, who is a patient at the clinic, said he didn’t know what to do.
“He was a patient, but was not concerned about himself, instead he was worried about what the seniors would do. That’s when I knew I needed to do something.”
She added: “After Dr. Catherine Wakely was asked to resign, that’s when I came up with the petition and started to interview patients. I have done a lot of research because it’s a population that could be easily hidden.
“Even if we didn’t get far then at least we may be showing Bermuda that behind the scenes, democracy seems to be crumbling.”
Patients in the crowd gave their overwhelming backing for the clinic.
After the demonstration, a diabetic man said he has been visiting the clinic since he was a little child and it was helpful for the insulin shots he must take three times a day.
The Warwick man said he was worried about the closure because doctors have turned him down in the past due to his diabetes.
John Ascento, a clinic patient with HIV, said: “I have been a clinic patient for 20 years and I have been attending the clinic because all of the medication can come from the hospital.
“If it closes I’m worried about finding help because financial assistance does not cover my medications.”
Mr. Ascento was also worried about the doctors and nurses employed at the clinic who could be left without jobs or would be distributed throughout the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, which meant he would lose his doctor.
Debra Wellman has been visiting the clinic since it was originally located at Victoria Street and she felt that the clinic there should be closed down, not the hospital clinic.
She said: “The doctors and nurses are so friendly and when I call down there, the secretary knows my name before I even say it. And if the hospital is in the middle then it’s easy for people to reach it from the West and the East.”
Ms. Wellman also worried about the cost she might have now for prescriptions, that were free at the clinic.
She said she recently had her eyes tested and the visit would have cost $190, but because she is part of the clinic it was free.
She added that when she went to the dentist, which is next to the clinic on Point Finger Road, it was also free.
Other patients, or families of patients, were concerned with bad weather and transportation.
Darlene Robinson said her husband has bronchial pneumonia and the rain can prove to be a hazard to his health. She said having access to all of the services he needs in one clinic is safer for him.
She said: “My husband goes to the clinic and meets his friends and comes back home with a smile on his face and isn’t that part of healthcare, keeping people happy?”
