The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis today (October 25) outlined its vision of a new and better way for the delivery of healthcare in the Federation, starting with the significant improvement in the services available at the Joseph N. France General Hospital, the main medical facility in the Federation. 
 
“The public outcry on the unacceptable state of affairs in healthcare, in general, and particularly at the main hospital, will no longer fall on deaf ears. Our Labour Government is listening and has an excellent plan for providing good, affordable, and accessible healthcare services for our people,” said the Governor General’s Deputy, Her Excellency Marcella Liburd JP as she delivered the Throne Speech at the opening of the new Session of the National Assembly.
 
As outlined in the Throne Speech, the St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party-led administration is “committed to ensuring that the JNF General Hospital is transformed into a state-of-the-art health facility. Our people will benefit from top-level care including greater access to modern services right here in the Federation. We will seek to improve and expand services in specialized areas such as oncology and dialysis treatment.”
 
The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, under the leadership of Prime Minister the Honourable Dr. Terrance Drew, also intends to scale up the number of skilled professionals working in the healthcare system and invest in the training and recruitment of more specialist doctors and nurses.
 
“We will provide support to our citizens who show interest in studying to qualify as registered nurses and nurse practitioners. Our Government will ensure that the number of doctors specializing in critical areas is increased. We will provide incentives for persons training in medicine to specialize in areas that are presently lacking in the Federation, including nurse practitioners. The capacity of the healthcare system needs to be improved and we are confident that our approach would yield much better results and a modern and more efficient health system,” said Her Excellency Liburd.
 
Just recently, the Ministry of Health assigned a cadre of doctors to the Pogson Medical Center in Sandy Point to ensure that a doctor is physically available 24/7 at the medical facility. This measure is expected to be adopted at the Mary Charles Hospital in Molineux in the near future.
 
Additionally, the Government purchased a new MRI machine for the JNF General Hospital, making the service affordable and more accessible to the people of St. Kitts and Nevis.