With a number of nurses leaving Saint Lucia in hopes of finding greener pastures, Health Minister Moses Jn Baptiste says government is doing its best to ensure that nurses remain in Saint Lucia.
Over the years, nurses have cited poor pay as one of the reasons for leaving the island, and have expressed this much via social media.
This “mass migration” continues to affect the health sector, President of the Saint Lucia Mental and Dental Association (SLMDA) Dr. Merle Clarke indicated recently, in a letter to the Board of Directors of the Millennium Heights Medical Complex (MHMC).
Clarke also wanted to know what measures have been put in place “to halt this exodus of clinical staff”.
Jn Baptiste, however, is well-aware of the issue.
The minister recently stated that “we have seen nurses leaving (and) going to other countries… from time to time. We try our very best to cause new professionals to come in.”
“We are working to see what we can do to encourage professionals to remain,” he added.
Government recently injected $11 million dollars in the MHMC with money sourced from the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) and government treasury.
The money, government noted in a statement, is “to ensure that the MHMC continues its mission of providing exceptional healthcare services to the people of Saint Lucia.”
That sum was given to the MHMC after Dr. Clarke wrote to the Board.
In that letter, Dr. Clarke wondered “how do you justify the money spent on expensive Billboards all over the hospital, new vehicles but the concurrent lack of drugs including but not limited to Panadol, Ibuprofen, Omeprazole, Dilantin, antibiotics; lack of equipment, shortages of lab supplies, anaesthetics and the list goes on”. (Nurses have cited the poor state of Saint Lucia’s healthcare system as a reason for leaving as seen on social media).
Jn Baptiste acknowledged that many of the problems that currently exist have been there for years.
The minister said that “when we came into office in 2021 we pledged that we were going to do what we have to do to fix the problems in the healthcare system. We have worked on many of the issues in terms of equipment (providing) a subvention to both the St Jude Hospital and the Millennium Heights Medical Complex where the Owen King EU Hospital is located. We have increased the subventions, we have caused many new pieces of equipment to go into these health facilities and we continue to work with the health professionals.”
He said he met with the administrators and members of the board of both the Millennium Heights Medical Complex and the St Jude Hospital.
According to him, they raised a number of concerns “in terms of additional resources that they needed and the prime minister promised to give them those resources. After that there has been some additional concerns and government has responded with 11 million dollars out of the CIP funds to ensure that the OKEU hospital deals with its payables.”
“There are payables between 44 and 50 million dollars owed to various medical facilities (and) suppliers both locally, regionally, (and) internationally; some of them from as far back as 2001. What this government is doing (is) working with the suppliers (and) all of those institutions to ensure that we pay,” he said.