Tobago Hospital kitchen shut down

Officials from the Public Health Division of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) ordered operations at the kitchen to cease after no heed was paid to a warning notice issued last month by County Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Mentor Melville.

A THA official said the CMO and a team of public health officials visited the kitchen in late March and were dissatisfied with conditions there.

On April 4, a warning notice was issued and personnel given 14 days to “clean up their act”.

According to the source, when the kitchen was revisited yesterday, officials were of the view that public health requirements, as ordered, were not being met and a decision was taken to close down the kitchen.

Meals for staff and patients at the hospital are now being prepared at a commercial establishment in Crown Point — some five miles away — and transported to the sister-isle’s only major health institution.

Dr Melville confirmed that a “warning notice” with respect to conditions at the kitchen was issued to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA), Myrna Riley-DesVignes, on April 4. He also confirmed that the kitchen was indeed closed down after it was found that conditions had not improved in keeping with public health regulations during a follow-up visit yesterday.