The clinic in East End has closed its doors. Staff at the Anegada clinic recently fell ill because of poor working conditions. Major repairs at the main clinic on Virgin Gorda have been delayed. Some medical facilities are sitting unused due to a lack of staff.
These problems are among the wide-ranging healthcare issues the government has been tackling despite a shortage of staff and funding, according to Health and Social Development Minister Vincent Wheatley.
During a June 5 House of Assembly meeting, Mr. Wheatley provided several healthcare updates in response to questions from opposition member Marlon Penn about clinics and other facilities across the territory.
Mr. Penn (R-D8) asked Mr. Wheatley (R-D9) if his ministry has provided the BVI Health Services Authority with the “additional resources and support requested to effectively run the [Virgin Gorda] facilities and offer the services deserving of the residents of the sister islands.”
Mr. Wheatley, who represents Virgin Gorda and Anegada in the HOA, emphasised his ministry’s commitment to providing highquality healthcare to the sister islands before acknowledging that much remains to be done.
“While some progress has been made, the full scope of support requested by the BVIHSA for sister islands has not yet been realised,” Mr. Wheatley said, citing the BVIHSA’s “significant constraints particularly with human resources shortages and infrastructure limitations.”
Virgin Gorda
Among the recent progress, Mr. Wheatley highlighted the completion and certification of the X-ray suite at the Nurse Iris O’Neal Medical Centre on Virgin Gorda.
However, he added that this equipment “is currently not in use due to the absence of technical staff.”
In answer to another question from Mr. Penn, Mr. Wheatley said the Recovery and Development Agency has started the tender process for providing roof repairs to the medical centre, and funding has been allocated for the project.
The issue of staff shortages is not unique to that clinic, according to the minister.
“At the North Sound Clinic [on Virgin Gorda], repairs and maintenance have been completed and the facility is structurally sound,” he said. “However, full operations are pending staff recruitment, which remain difficult due to competition for qualified personnel with other jurisdictions.”
He also expanded on the challenges in recruiting staff.
“Although candidates have been recruited, delays in onboarding and competition from other jurisdictions have limited their availability,” he said. “Efforts remain ongoing to fill these critical positions and ensure consistent service delivery.”
Ill staff
Anegada facilities are also facing problems, according to the minister.
“There are recurring environmental issues at the Nurse Romalia Smith Clinic building, which have unfortunately resulted in members of staff becoming ill,” he said. “In an effort to address these concerns, deep cleaning and sterilisation of the facility were carried out. However, these measures only provided temporary relief.”
He also noted that “rotational nursing support is currently being provided from Virgin Gorda to maintain operations following the resignation of the resident nurse.” He then described plans to build a new health facility on Anegada.
“Following further assessment, it was recommended that a comprehensive purpose-built facility be designed and constructed to permanently address the issues and ensure a safe environment for both staff and patients,” he said. “To this end, the BVI Health Services Authority has developed a proposal for the construction of a new building to replace the current clinic.”
Nurses needed
In his answers, Mr. Wheatley emphasised that nurse shortages and infrastructure costs are major challenges in providing the sister islands with the healthcare resources they need.
“The main constraints for delivering full support to the sister islands include persistent recruitment challenges, particularly in securing qualified healthcare professionals willing to relocate to the sister islands; long lead times for onboarding staff even when suitable candidates are identified; [and] rising infrastructure cost, particularly for projects requiring imported equipment and specialist logistics,” he said. “Additionally, the ministry is currently exploring technological advances to enhance healthcare accessibility for residents of the sister islands.”
East End clinic
The need for more staff has been an urgent issue on Tortola as well, according to the minister.
Due to nurse shortages, he said, healthcare services previously offered by the Nurse Iris Penn Smith Clinic in East End and the Rosalind Penn Healthcare Centre in Long Look have been consolidated.
The Nurse Iris Penn Smith Clinic will remain closed as the BVIHSA works to recruit the adequate number of staff, according to Mr. Wheatley.
“This consolidation was undertaken to ensure the continued delivery of efficient and effective healthcare services to the residents of both East and Long Look communities as well as His Majesty’s Prison,” he said.
More changes in healthcare services in this area are in the works, according to the minister.
“The BVIHSA, upon the recommendation of its primary and community health staff, developed a proposal for the construction of a purpose-built comprehensive clinic to serve the East End area, also referred to as Health Zone One,” he said. “This facility is being designed to meet the needs of the community and ensure it is adequately staffed to provide a quality of care our residents deserve.”
No timeline
In a follow-up question, Mr. Penn asked when the Nurse Iris Penn Smith Clinic would reopen.
“It’s been months now, and I got the same answer about recruitment, recruitment,” Mr. Penn said. “And the people of our district are suffering, particularly our seniors who frequent that clinic. What is being done? Can you give us a timeline for the completion of this process to ensure that there’s coverage in that area? In absence of coverage, can we give some support to the seniors to get them to the clinic — and particularly in Long Look when that is open?”
Mr. Wheatley said he was unable to give a timeline, noting that the nursing shortage is an international issue and “the rate of attrition is very high and the recruitment process is very slow.”
He did say, though, that remedial actions have been taken in the meantime.
“What we have done to alleviate the situation of having the clinic closed, we have increased home visits,” he said. “If persons are not getting home visits, please call and make sure that the clinic [will] send someone to you.”
Other projects
Mr. Penn had also asked the minister about the infrastructure and equipment issues the BVIHSA is currently facing.
Citing the $30 million from the $100 million loan that is earmarked for the sector, he asked if Mr. Wheatley “provided the necessary assistance to address these issues?”
Additionally, he asked about roof repairs at the Dr. D. Orlando Smith Hospital and work planned for the hospital’s dialysis centre and dental unit, among others.
Mr. Wheatley reiterated that the approximately $30 million from the loan is the “estimated cost to address” the BVIHSA’s “critical capital needs.”
$4m allocated
Of that, he continued, $4 million has been allocated “to support urgent infrastructure upgrades, including roof repairs, the completion of outpatient clinic facilities, upgrading retrofitting of the dental facilities, and improvements to the dialysis unit over the next two years.”
He did not say whether the money has been drawn down and provided yet.
These projects, he added, will be managed by the RDA.
Hospital works
In a further update on the hospital, Mr. Wheatley said a structural assessment that will “inform the necessary repairs to the various roofs and guttering systems” has been “received and evaluated, and the RDA is currently awaiting board approval to proceed with contract signing.”
As for the refurbishment of the outpatient clinic lobby, “two bids were received for the structural design and are currently under evaluation pending approval by the RDA board,” he said. “An elevator for this area has already been procured and ready for installation once construction resumes. The remaining refurbishment works will be tendered and managed by the RDA.”
Mr. Wheatley also said that the BVIHSA received $191,100 in November to provide the hospital with new dialysis and reverse-osmosis machines.
This equipment, he said, has been procured.
Plans to expand the dialysis unit are still in the works.
“A review of the previous design for the expansion of the dialysis unit is pending the appointment of a design consultant,” the minister said.
Mr. Wheatley then gave an update on the air-conditioning chillers for the hospital, saying that they are expected to be installed between July 7 and 20.
“The ministry made $1 million available to the BVIHSA in incremental stages from April to December 2024 for the procurement, shipment, transportation and installation” of these units, Mr. Wheatley said.
New equipment
The minister also said that new healthcare equipment has been provided through a $250,000 grant secured from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States with the support of the California-based charity Direct Relief.
For instance, he said, Caterpillar generators were recently provided to outfit the Theresa Smith Blyden Clinic in Cappoons Bay, the Nurse Iris Penn Smith Clinic in East End, and the North Sound Clinic in Virgin Gorda.
The funding also provided for the purchase and installation of an oxygen-generation system at the hospital, which significantly reduced the territory’s “reliance on third-party oxygen suppliers” and enhanced the “sustainability of medical gas provision,” he said.
British Caribbean News
