Baffin hospital filthy and unhygienic

I was recently in Iqaluit on a medical escort trip to the Baffin Regional Hospital. There were some things that I was absolutely appalled with while I was in the hospital.

Being the biggest hospital in the Baffin region, it should be clean. You would think that hygiene should be the top priority. We stayed in the hospital for five days. During the whole time we were there, I think the floor was washed once in the room we stayed in, and they didn’t bother sweeping it before they washed it.

I had volunteered to sweep it until the cleaning person said she would do it. The rooms should be swept clean every day, as they are housing sick people.

The other thing was, in the cafeteria, I noticed that all of the employees in the cafeteria did not wear any hair-nets. I guess that explains why there was hair found on food on three different occasions. There was hair on two separate meals that the patient I had escorted was supposed to eat. The other occasion was when the roommate’s husband was having tea, and as he was finishing the tea, he noticed a hair and it was clear that it wasn’t his.

When we were discharged from hospital on Wednesday, we had to see the doctor again the next day. While we were in the waiting room, there were a bunch of people waiting for their appointments. There were bloodstains on the floor, which had not been wiped properly.

Now what if one of the bloodstains was contaminated with HIV? The hospital staff should be more aware of how gross and disgusting it is to see a major hospital not being kept clean. I expect to see some improvement the next time I step into the hospital.

Sarah Tautuajuk
Pangnirtung