By Robert Andre Emmanuel
The date for the reopening of the Cancer Centre Eastern Caribbean will be delayed a bit more as the new ownership group continues to face a tough task of arriving at a consensus with the former owners over the purchase of equipment within the facility.
The Cabinet noted that in a conversation with the new owners, led by Dr Joey John, the previous owner Dr Conville Brown has been giving the team difficulties.
Dr John acquired the facility weeks after the government exercised eminent domain over the centre following protracted negotiations with the former owner when Dr Brown requested the government pay US$30 million for the property.
“We know that there are people who require the services which the Cancer Centre used to offer and those people we send off to Colombia and, in some instances, to Trinidad and Suriname that allow us to utilise their services.
“It is at a cost and that cost is borne mostly by the Medical Benefits Scheme … but our motivation though is to ensure that that centre reopens,” the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Lionel Hurst said during yesterday’s post-Cabinet press briefing.
“The negotiations, which are taking place, we’re hoping that [a deal] can happen soon, and we will bring all the pressure we possibly can to ensure that it happens very quickly.”
The team wants to purchase and repair the old machines, along with incorporating new technology which reportedly works by capturing cancer cells in the bloodstream.
Local cancer support groups, such as Breast Friends, have been agitating for the centre to be reopened as quickly as possible.