GPHC records daily double-digit suicide watch admissions – CEO 

The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) is recording double-digit suicide watch admissions on a daily basis, according to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ravi Rambarran, who has said that the institution has also seen an increase in attempted suicide cases following recent incidents. GPHC CEO Robbie Rambarran, who spoke on the recent Starting Point podcast, expressed that it is overwhelming for the corporation.
“It’s quite an overwhelming number of patients that we have on a daily basis that are on suicide watch. Yeah, it’s quite a number. And it’s in the double digits on a daily basis that are admitted and are placed on suicide watch.”
He added that these figures have always been high, but the institution has seen an increase in patients attempting suicide.
“There were increased patients being admitted. So, after they saw and heard what happened, more people decided that they’ll do it too. And it’s unforeseen, so it’s a difficult one to manage.”

On January 18, 22-year-old Marissa Eastman, who was six months pregnant, died after jumping from the third floor of a ward at GPHC. Eastman, of La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD), Region Three, had been admitted earlier that day after relatives raised concerns about her behaviour.
On February 26, a 70-year-old patient died after jumping from the second-floor male surgical ward of GPHC. The man had been hospitalised for several weeks and was reportedly under suicide watch at the time of the incident. He succumbed to injuries sustained in the fall.

Yielding great results
When asked if mental health counselling has helped in any way, Rambarran reported that it has been yielding great results; however, family support for suicide victims continues to be a struggle. “Yeah, certainly the counselling is working because a lot of those patients, after counselling and speaking to the doctor, get better. And this is sometimes something that is really absent prior to these patients becoming patients of attempted suicide: that there is not enough support, especially family support. Almost every one of our patients has complained about family support.”
“Once they are in our care and we start talking to them and get the doctors to work, the social worker gets the family involved, and we have conversations and assign them to doctors or social workers directly where they can receive counselling. It’s been working.” According to him, mental health remains a serious issue, and what happened to those patients was unfortunate.
“We wish we could save every patient, not just mental patients, and especially patients who die from those circumstances. It is sometimes not easy for us to deal with. I know I sometimes break down listening to some of the stories. My doctor, Stacey, was just reminding me on my way over that I should not cry in an interview. She said the last time I had an interview with Kiana, I cried. I can’t remember. But sometimes we are very passionate about what we do, and we are human, and some of the things that are said really break us.”

Infrastructural challenges
Meanwhile, Rambarran recalled an incident in which a patient who had inflicted self-harm to the neck was taken to theatre and successfully underwent several hours of surgery, during which his life was saved. He explained that the patient was subsequently placed in a secure room under nursing supervision. However, while the attending nurse briefly left to retrieve a blood pressure monitoring device, the patient reportedly escaped through an open window. Rambarran said the incident highlighted ongoing infrastructural challenges, noting that windows in such wards had not been barred due to safety concerns, particularly in the event of emergencies such as fire evacuations.
He added that while security enhancements such as window bars present risks in emergency situations, the hospital has had to implement certain measures in response to repeated incidents, despite the operational challenges they may create.
“There were three deaths, I believe, in a very short period of time, and we don’t want this to be the reason. We had to find ways of improvising how we put the grills on in the event of an emergency so that they could be easily removed but not so easily removed that someone could remove them. So, we barred the windows in some corridors, enhanced patient monitoring, put patients in isolated wards, and assigned staff, a PC or nurse, to remain with them at all times. We even had to ensure that if staff are leaving the room, they call someone to come in because of that recent tragedy.” He further reported that the hospital has also worked on improving policies and clinical procedures, including training staff in more advanced methods of patient care.
(If you or someone you know is experiencing emotional distress or thoughts of suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 915 for assistance.)