From as early as 4am on Thursday, hundreds of people lined up outside the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) in Port of Spain, eager to enter and access the medical services being offered by the doctors, nurses and other medical personnel of the USNS Comfort.
Captain of the vessel, Ryan Kendall, said the 875 personnel on board the ship are very excited to be in Trinidad and Tobago.
“We have four specialities, so we have adult care, paediatrics, we have dentistry and optometry, and we’re going to spend the next couple of days until Sunday delivering medical care here, and then we’re conducting surgical operations on board the USNS Comfort.”
Minister of Health Dr. Lackram Bodoe explained the Regional Health Authorities in Trinidad and Tobago were invited to send in the names of patients who require surgeries.
“One of the biggest challenges I face as the Minister of Health was the long waiting list for surgeries, and what I would have done is constitute a committee to deal with waiting lists. That is in effect as well, and that is the reason we were able to provide the names of patients who need assistance. We would have had patients waiting as long as three years, you know, for surgeries.”
Dr. Bodoe said priority was given to 100 patients who had been on these waiting lists.
“We’ve identified eye surgery as one of the areas, general surgery, things like hernias and lumps and bumps and so on. We have recommended some patients for paediatric procedures as well and plastic procedures as well.”
He noted that cataract and eye procedures were the surgeries with the highest number of patients.
“I saw the eye doctor, I read the chart, and my eyes is not too bad in any way, it’s just that reading small writing, and this is proof of it, I got the reading glasses, the shades, and I must say I want to congratulate the American government via the American Embassy and together with our government, who is instrumental and partnering with the American government and the health institution. I want to say the process is smooth.”
In addition to the surgical, dental, dermatological, and other medical services being provided by the USNS Comfort, veterinary services are also available.