Business View Caribbean | July 2022

82 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 9, ISSUE 7 BERMUDA HOSP I TALS BOARD (BHB) Business View Caribbean spoke with Dr. Michael Richmond, CEO & President of Bermuda Hospitals Board, about how BHB delivers best practices in healthcare. His insights are both enlightening and encouraging for the future. BVC: Can you share an overview of BHB and how it fits into the big picture of Bermuda healthcare? Dr. Richmond: “BHB offers the only 24/7 hospital services for mental health and medical care in Bermuda. Our outpatient, inpatient acute and emergency medical services are delivered from the KEMH campus, on which there are also about 100 long term care patients and a hospice. Our mental health, intellectual disability and substance use services are based at MWI, which also has numerous intellectual disability and mental group homes across Bermuda. Our evening and weekend urgent care service is delivered from the East End of the Island, across a causeway and it opens up if the causeway closes so that people in St George’s and St David’s are not cut off from medical care . “We provide more services than might be expected for a hospital serving such a small population due to our isolation. For those services that we can’t provide, we have strong links with hospitals in North America, most specifically on the eastern seaboard and in Canada, particularly in Toronto, Ontario. We employ approximately 1800 staff, including Bermudians and guest workers on a work permit. We have a modest turnover of personnel, and we are always strongly looking to recruit from around the world to enhance our services.” BVC: Given the global shortage of skilled workers, how challenging is the recruiting process for BHB? Dr. Richmond: “ Obviously, it’s an area that we keep a close eye on. We do well in recruitment terms in landing well-qualified, quality staff. But I think it’s fair to say that the COVID pandemic has altered the landscape and it certainly it is harder to recruit in certain categories that are in demand, such as qualified nursing staff. We have a proactive strategy of recruitment and work hard to replace guest worker staff who leave. If we compare our vacancy rates to those experienced overseas, we are doing Dr. Michael Richmond, CEO & President