Dear Editor,
Red Thread extends its deepest condolences to the family, relatives and friends of the late Marissa Eastman who tragically lost her life at the Georgetown Public Hospital Incorporation. This tragic loss has not only touched our hearts deeply but has raised much concerns for us. Eastman is not the first person to leap to her death from a public health institute. In 2008, a 30-year-old woman leapt from the maternity ward window at West Demerara Hospital; in October, 2012 a male leapt from the window of male surgical at West Demerara Hospital; in June 2017 another male also leapt to his death from male surgical; in 2015, there were two suicide attempts by a male individual who was saved at the second attempt by a porter. Sadly, still in 2026, the health care system has once again failed a young Guyanese woman.
According to a post by the GPHC they are open to reviewing protocols as it relates to mental health and suicide watch interventions. After 7 years it appears that those protocols are not effective. Why not? What happened to all those other patients who lost their lives from leaping through a window? What measures or protocols were in place then? While the staff at the time of the incident need to be held responsible, accountability is also on the hospital’s administration and also the Ministry of Health. The ownership is on them for adequate staffing, to make sure security is in place. If the windows were properly secured with grills there wouldn’t have been a space for the woman to jump through. Also, the staff have to be trained enough to deal with these kinds of issues such as Marissa’s and therefore they, the nurses, could have been on the alert and look out. But you cannot have a full ward of patients and three nurses. They can’t watch everybody.
While the Ministry of Health needs to be held accountable, family members, friends and community should as well. Regarding Marissa’s health diagnosis, we would want to recommend a lot more awareness sessions on the conditions such as hers. Even though there were many awareness sessions in the past it is still clear that there is still a lot of misunderstanding about some conditions and the stigma attached to them. There must be for a space in the wards so that someone is always there to keep an eye out day and night. We know that a nurse’s work is tiresome and they need to rest but there has to be a system in which everybody is not distracted all at the same time.
When these incidents happen who takes care of that nurse or nurses that are traumatized? What health-care system is in place? The Government is talking about all these big expensive hospitals but there are no proper safety measures for nurses and patients.