THE GOVERNMENT has proposed to build a special secure police post at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), for high-risk prisoners and inmates who go to the hospital for treatment.
This is one of several measures being considered to better secure the hospital.
According to Information Officer in the Ministry of Health, Rosemarie Lee, the costing of the new measures to be implemented was being examined and when this was done, Cabinet would have to be informed before such could be implemented.
The KPH has been invaded on several occasions over the past eight years as gunmen attempt to free from police custody, cronies who had been taken there for treatment. Other prisoners are reported to have walked out of the hospital unnoticed by security personnel or hospital staff.
Health Minister John Junor explained last week that when prisoners attend outpatient clinics they will be kept in a secure area and taken to go to the respective clinics when the doctor is ready to attend to them.
According to the Minister, in this way the prisoners will not wait in the clinics for any extended period. Last October, Mark Morant, a fugitive on the United States' most wanted list was snatched from the custody of soldiers and prison guards. Morant had been taken to the hospital for a medical appointment.
After Morant was seen by the doctor, he and soldiers and correctional officer were sitting in the waiting area of the eye clinic, awaiting transportation back to the General Penitentiary when they were attacked by a group of gunmen who invaded the hospital.
The gunmen shot and injured one of the soldiers, then took his rifle. They then snatched Morant and fled. Morant is still on the run.
Referring to prisoners who have to be admitted for treatment, the Health Minister said the society will have to accept that there are considerable constraints on resources, which would make it most impossible for government to set up another treatment facility, such as exists at KPH, for high-risk patients only.
He stressed that such a facility would have to be housed somewhere like Up Park Camp and an operating suite would have to be established to go with it. The Minister said the country could not afford such a facility at this time.
Two weeks ago, gunmen stormed a ward at the hospital and killed a policeman and the prisoner he was guarding.
Meanwhile, as the hospital continues to look at measures to improve the security there, the Ministry of Health has proposed to close the western gate to pedestrian traffic, except for those persons with business at the hospital.
"We would like, as well, to establish a close circuit television system with monitoring room for critical points in the hospital, not just for the safety of patients but also to monitor volatile material in the hospital," the Minister said.
