MAY 8TH, 2020 – MAY 15TH, 2020
Website: www.suntci.com
VOLUME 16 - NO. 19
Email: sun@suntci.com
Tel: (649) 348-6838
$1.00
Fax: (649) 941-3281
www.facebook.com/tcisun
SEVEN STARS LAYS OFF 50 WORKERS by Hayden Boyce Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
S
even Stars Resort has laid off 50 employees because the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected its operations, but the hotel will retain 200 workers who will receive 50 percent of their salaries for the time being. The employees were informed of the decision at a meeting on Friday, May 8th, 2020, by Ken Patterson, Seven Stars’ Chief Executive Officer, who told The SUN it was an extremely painful decision to make. Stressing that the “vast majority” of the staff who will continue working are Turks and Caicos Islanders, Patterson said that since the Turks and Caicos Islands closed its borders in late March, the hotel has been operating with “zero income” but still paying staff 50 percent of their salary and giving them two meals daily. “The choice was either to close down the entire hotel or to stay open with no guests, reduce staff, but still allow the majority of them to at least put food on their tables and help support their families,” he said. Continued on page 2
Seven Stars Resort, on Grace Bay Beach, Providenciales.
Tourists complain about treatment at Grand Turk Hospital by Hayden Boyce Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
A couple who visited Turks and Caicos Islands in October 2019, will take legal action against InterHealth Canada because of what they described as a “nightmare” of inadequate treatment at the Grand Turk Hospital. Alena Wratislavova, the wife of Edward Lilly, a former US Marine who was involved a diving accident in the country’s capital last October which she said “nearly took his life”, told The SUN she has engaged a lawfirm in the UK to sue the hospital. “The accident was a freak accident,” she stated in an email to The SUN. “Edward was caught in
a cold current while on a routine dive with his dive master and a dive group. Once at the hospital and bleeding heavily, the doctors counted over 63 holes in his legs which they identified were from venomous jellyfish which were also in the current Edward was caught in.” “Edward was lucky to make it to the surface which is where the bigger problems began. Edward was taken to Grand Turk hospital where he did not receive emergency care. He was suffering from severe nitrogen narcosis and was reacting to the venom in his body,” the wife added. Stressing that her goal is “to prevent this from happening to anyone else”, the wife added: “The
hospital discharged him and he was released into the parking lot alone. This is where he suffered his first nitrogen-related stroke. The report states they brought him back into the hospital where he went untreated other than an oxygen mask while I desperately attempted to arrange an air ambulance over the phone. I was in England. The doctor gave me two reasons why Edward couldn’t be transferred to the hospital in Provo for hyperbaric treatment. The first reason was that he needed a different kind of chamber and the one on Provo was not adequate. Hours later I was told there wasn’t a qualified doctor at the Provo hospital to operate the chamber. I was beside myself.” The Canadian woman said
it took her over 30 hours to get Edward off the island due to her lack of knowledge about his medical insurance provider. “In the three years we’ve been together, we had always travelled to Grand Turk together. I hadn’t thought to ask for his insurance policy because we don’t need to know this in Canada. Three US hospitals in Florida refused to take him without this information.” Wratislavova said the reason she contacted The SUN is because she “does not believe the hospital in Grand Turk (although run by Canadians who claim it is Diamond status) is qualified to treat trauma and emergency situations”. Continued on page 2
Conserve Energy & Save! To save on your energy costs, set your AC thermostat to 78 degrees or as high as comfort permits. Further information and energy conservation tips are available on our website: www.fortistci.com
www.fortistci.com | 649-946-4313