Caribbean News
InterHealth Canada – TCI Hospital Accredited to offer Medical Internships
#Providenciales, June 20, 2019 – Turks and Caicos Islands – InterHealth Canada – Turks and Caicos Islands Hospital has been granted accreditation status from the University of the West Indies Caribbean Association of Medical Councils (C.A.M.C) to offer medical internships. The Chairman of the UWI Accreditation Committee, Professor Trevor McCartney along with a team of other industry experts conducted an onsite assessment in February 2019 following an application by the private healthcare management company.
Medical graduates are required to successfully complete a one-year rotation in the four major disciplines of Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Paediatrics. These medical interns must commit three months to each discipline to become eligible for full registration in their home state, and meet the clinical and academic requirements for registration in all CARICOM states.
Medical interns are physicians who have successfully completed all of the requirements to receive provisional registration and practice licenses. Medical interns receive training for a period of 4 to 5 years prior to graduating as doctors. The advancement of the internship program involves a partnership between InterHealth Canada (IHC) and the Turks and Caicos Islands Government (TCIG). While the UWI accreditation grants the hospital the option to commence rotations as early as July 1st, 2019, additional steps are required.
The next step involves the submission of an application to become a locally registered teaching hospital under the Ministry of Education and the presentation of a business case to TCI Government via the Change Procedure outlined in the Project Agreement. This proposal will seek funds to support four new medical intern positions and four registrar level positions. A multi-stakeholder meeting involving local entities is planned to discuss the implementation process.
Commenting on the accreditation, Dean of Medical Sciences at the UWI Mona Campus, Dr Tomlin Paul stated: “The Faculty of Medical Sciences, UWI Mona, is delighted to have news of a successful accreditation of the Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI) Hospital. This augurs well for the continued education of our Medical Graduates from the TCI. We look forward to working with the Hospital’s Administration in the continued development of Human Resources for the Caribbean Health Sector.”
Chief Executive Officer at IHC-TCI Hospital, Daniel Carriere stated: “Our successful accreditation as a teaching facility via the University of West Indies denotes a major milestone for the TCI Hospital. The fact that we will host medical interns will dramatically enhance our ability to continuously improve service delivery for our patients. The associated expectations will also provide a platform to develop other teaching programs, greater flexibility in our staffing requirements within the medical services and decrease our reliance on locum appointments. In addition, the teaching designation will further support the recruitment and retention of highly skilled staff.”
Chief of Medical Services at IHC-TCI Hospital, Dr Denise Braithwaite-Tennant stated: “The introduction of medical interns is expected to increase our physician-patient ratios, accelerate learning, drive innovation, improve health outcomes, enhance the patient experience, quality of care and patient safety. Consultants will supervise the medical interns’ performance and guide their professional development. Our objective is to transform the long-standing single consultant physician model overtime to a multi-level skill mix of consultant, registrar and medical interns. Many Turks and Caicos Islanders have expressed interest in returning home for their medical internships. The accreditation is the first step towards eventually accommodating these requests. Patient safety is our number one priority and building local human capacity remains a key strategic imperative.”
Minister of Health, Agriculture, Sports and Human Services, Honorable Edwin Astwood stated: “Congratulations to the Turks and Caicos Islands Hospital, InterHealth Canada for its successful application to become a facility accredited by the University of the West Indies to deliver medical internship programs. The Ministry of Health, Agriculture, Sports and Human Services worked collaboratively with Dr Braithwaite-Tennant and the hospital team to show case our capacity to facilitate knowledge sharing and transfer. Academic medicine challenges physicians to work as multi-disciplinary teams and promote a comprehensive and multifaceted look at a patient’s condition and treatment plan, ultimately helping the hospital team provide the best care possible. The increased physician-patient ratios and the change in the physician model by creating a tiered structure seeks to foster an environment of sustainable learning and health system improvement.”
Minister of Education, Youth, Culture, Social and Library Services, Honorable Karen Malcolm stated: “We are excited and proud of the work IHC has done in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Department of Education to obtain this accreditation status as a teaching hospital. This milestone achievement means that our medical students can now do their internship here within the Turks and Caicos Islands. We will continue to work with IHC and all stakeholders to make this vision a reality.”
TCI Government Health Registrar, Dr Derrick Aarons stated: “The achievement of accreditation for the medical internship programme by InterHealth Canada with the support of the Turks and Caicos Islands Government (TCIG) is to be widely acclaimed! This matter is also timely as the TCIG is currently implementing three Councils to regulate the health professions within the country. The Medicine and Dentistry Professions Council will provide registration for suitably qualified medical interns to work under the direction and supervision of a specialist in the related field of medicine. This process should auger well for improved health care delivery to the citizens and residents of the Turks and Caicos Islands.”
Release: InterHealth Canada
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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