Opposition party tables photos of rodent feces on floors inside Health Sciences Centre
Photos tabled in the House of Assembly on Thursday show troubling conditions inside the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's, including what appears to be feces in hospital rooms. (Submitted by the PC Party of Newfoundland and Labrador)
Photos tabled in the House of Assembly show troubling conditions inside Newfoundland and Labrador's largest hospital, including what appears to be rodent feces on hospital floors.
The photos were tabled by PC health critic Barry Petten, who told the House they were taken by a man who stayed in the hospital for a surgery in February.
The photos, shared with CBC News, show dirty sinks, holes in the walls covered by tape, garbage on the floors and what appears to be feces.
"When they got to their feet, they went around and started noticing those things," Petten told reporters.
"It's quite alarming. I mean apparently there was feces of rats and probably mice. There's garbage. It's not good enough, you know? That's not where any of us should want to recover from a serious surgery."
Health Minister Tom Osborne told reporters that he wasn't aware of the photos before they were brought forward by Petten. He contacted Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services CEO David Diamond for more information immediately after question period.
"If a facility is like that, it's simply unacceptable," Osborne said.
"If any patient sees something like this, they should immediately bring it to the attention of staff in the hospital…. But I'm certainly looking into it."
The hospital is currently under renovation to expand its emergency room.
Petten said he wants to see a full assessment of the building to ensure the hospital is being held to proper cleaning standards.
"The people who are going to these hospitals, they got to be treated better," he said. "I think it's about time that government really start focusing on what we got, infrastructure and upgrades and keeping what they got up to date."
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