Business View Caribbean October/November 2018

36 37 To improve healthcare in the Caribbean by providing reliable, leading edge technology and cost effective solutions and products to the healthcare providers of the region. www.clinitechtt.com THE MILTON CATO MEMORIAL HOSPITAL honor of Robert Milton Cato– the first Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines when they gained independence from the British in 1979. In December, 2013, MCMH was severely water-damaged by a freak storm that flood- ed many areas of St. Vincent, and according to Hospital Administrator, Grace Walters, it is still recuperating, five years later. “We are still in the process of rebuilding some of our infrastructure and that is going to take a huge effort in terms of resources com- ing from St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” she states. “And we, as a people, are hoping that our friends out there in the wider world would assist in whatever way they can. So far, we are trying to make the most of our situ- ation, and trying to rebuild. Some areas are fully recovered, but there are others that are still trying to recover from that devastation.” Today, MCMH has approximately 600 em- ployees, including doctors, nurses, techni- cians, and ancillary staff, who provide emer- AT A GLANCE THE MILTON CATO MEMORIAL HOSPITAL WHAT: 215-bed hospital serving Saint Vincent and the Grenadines WHERE: Bentick Square, Kingstown, Saint Vincent WEBSITE: www.health.gov.vc/health gency, surgical, and medical care. In addition, the hospital often has visiting specialists from other countries. For example, last October, MCMH wel- comed two medical specialists from Cuba - an an- esthesiologist and a general surgeon. “They came at a point in time when we really needed those services, because we were having some challeng- es in the area of staffing in the operating theater. They came on a short-term basis and have since returned to Cuba.” As a public hospital, all of MCMH’s services operate under the auspices of the Ministry of Health,Wellness and the Environment. Patients are required to pay user fees for medical services, but Walters concedes that those fees don’t often recover the services’ true costs. That being said, patients who cannot afford to pay are not pre- vented from accessing healthcare. “As a policy of the government, we don’t ever turn away patients for any reason,” she states. “We have had a num- ber of discussions surrounding a national health insurance policy. So far, I believe the government is making some strides in having that program implemented throughout the islands, but we are not there yet. I strongly support going with a national health insurance program, because, over the next few years, with the added facilities and increasing demands for more healthcare services from our population, I think it will be difficult for us to sustain healthcare on just the user fees. That will be one of our major challenges going forward. If we do not have a change in the user fee model, we will have a very difficult time changing, growing, and evolving.”