Health
TCI Hospitals Building Business Cases for ICU, Ophthalmology & Vascular; early estimates is over $10 Million needed
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, June 30, 2022 – An Intensive Care Unit is under active consideration for the Turks and Caicos however it will be a long and expensive process with an at least $10 million dollar price tag attached; the good news is the space is available and the Health Minister wants to cut the cheque.
“In our 2021-2024 strategic plan and with the group that we have through our contract management unit and our collaborations with NHIP; these are some of the services that we are looking at over the next three years to build a business case based on our data and their data to present to government with a proposal. Now we recognize that we have to take our time in presenting all of these proposals to Government because they are the ones funding it.”
Dr. Denise Braithwaite Tennant, CEO of InterHealth Canada explained the extreme complexity of planning and building an ICU in this British overseas territory.
“There are different levels to the ICU, there are ICUs that focus on medical, trauma, and high complexities such as open-heart surgeries and ecmo. So we recognize we have to have a starting point and we are building the business case for that and it’s the most complex one we’ve ever had to build… our aim is to start with a medical ICU so that we can reduce the number of persons going abroad for surgeries that we do here.”
The medical ICU is especially important because what has happened in the past and continues today is that residents with certain comorbidities are sent overseas for surgeries offered on the island. While the surgery expertise exists in-country, post-surgery ICU care is not.
“Because of their patient complexity we’ve decided that it’s not safe to do it in the absence of an ICU,” Braithwaite-Tennant explained
Building a business case for an ICU is intricate and demands that planners identify the requisite staff, consider the infrastructural needs and introduce the proper operations program and many other factors. These boxes must be
checked even before the Government then weighs in on the proposal which they must agree to fund from the public purse.
Jamell Robinson, the TCI Minister of Health in that Tuesday press conference offered a simple, “Long time” when asked if he would be willing to support putting the money behind the development of an ICU and other areas itemized as priorities by the hospitals CEO.
Dr. Braithwaite-Tennant says there are two other high volume procedures putting a strain on taxpayers and Turks and Caicos should begin immediate work on addressing the deficiency in these clinical services.
“As a unit they may not be very expensive but because of the critical volumes that they generate they still end up causing NHIP a lot of money.”
These high volume services were named as surgical and medical Ophthalmology or eye care, which she describes as a “key driver in terms of volume” and vascular which is climbing in demand as the number of dialysis patients in the TCI is on the rise.
Despite the difficulties in crafting these plans, TCI Hospitals’ executives are assertively pushing for the in country services in ophthalmology, vascular and an ICU and have confirmed that by year end, the businesses cases will be handed over to Government for review.
“Thereafter it’s going to be a back and forth communication about it, group meetings explaining so they can fully understand and then comes the part of funding it.”
One good thing is that the physical building space already exists as the government had built the hospitals with expansion capacity.
“The ICU buildup is complex — thankfully the government of the Turks and Caicos Islands had the foresight to build expansion spaces. All it is now is a shell and we currently use it for storage but it has the fixtures in the walls to come forward.” she said.
Dr. Braithwaite-Tenant explained they were moving on these medical services proposals aggressively because they recognized that the current system is not sustainable.
“The project agreement did not necessarily envision it being used with an ICU component– but COVID forced that because there were times in the very beginning that no one wanted patients who had Covid-19. No one.”
Which meant TCI islanders who tested positive for the virus prior to being medially evacuated, were denied medical care. It placed Islanders in life threatening situations.
The idea that in five months, Turks and Caicos Islands Government could be holding the plan to build an Intensive Care Unit and to add specialists in eye and vascular care is heartening. Residents have long been calling for the extension and the country is in a fantastic place, fiscally, to action and approve these significant upgrades.
The 40,000 residents and two million visitors will be able to rest easier with the assurance that specialized care is only minutes away; giving patients more precious life saving time which could mean the difference between life and death.
Deandrea Hamilton | Editor
Turks and Caicos, September 6, 2025 – COVID-19 fears in the Turks and Caicos Islands that once had residents on edge are now giving way to a sense of relief. The Ministry of Health and Human Services reports a dramatic reversal: from dozens of new cases in July to zero cases and zero hospitalizations today.
Between August 17 and 23, 2025, officials confirmed no new cases, no hospitalizations, and no new deaths. Just two recoveries were recorded, bringing the national recovery tally to 6,866. The total confirmed cases since 2020 stand at 6,922, with deaths unchanged at 41. Health officials say August has been relatively quiet overall, with 19 new cases and recoveries recorded for the month — a fraction of what the islands faced just weeks earlier.
The contrast could not be sharper. The most concerning bulletin came in mid-July, when the Ministry reported 54 new cases in a single
week. Ten were fresh positives, while the other 44 came from a backlog of April samples. At that time, two new hospitalizations were recorded, and the islands mourned one additional COVID-related death, bringing the total to 41. It was a sobering reminder that the virus was still circulating, pushing recoveries to 6,845 and raising the cumulative case count to 6,910. The July spike stirred fear among residents and renewed calls for vigilance, as community spread and delayed lab results painted a worrying picture.
Fast forward to late August, and the numbers tell a very different story. Not only are new cases negligible, but the hospitals are reporting no COVID-19 patients at all. Officials say testing continues across a wide range of categories, and the Ministry urges the public to stay cautious: wash hands, wear masks in crowded spaces, protect the vulnerable, and get vaccinated. But the tone now is one of optimism.
Since the pandemic began in 2020, Turks and Caicos has recorded nearly 7,000 cases in total, with 6,866 recoveries and 41 deaths. The islands’ small population means every case has felt significant, and surges like July’s were especially unsettling. But today’s figures suggest the country has reached a new stage: COVID-19 is no longer the disruptive force it was. The Ministry credits continued public vigilance and the accessibility of free testing and vaccines at government clinics. While the numbers are cause for celebration, health leaders are careful not to declare the fight over. The Ministry’s latest bulletin reminds residents to maintain hygienic practices, follow self-isolation guidelines if infected, and ensure vaccinations are up to date.
The pandemic may not be entirely behind the Turks and Caicos, but compared to the frightening figures of July, the near-zero landscape of August offers a powerful sign of hope.
The Ministry released the bulletin on September 2, confirming that for the week of August 17–23, no new cases, hospitalizations, or deaths were recorded — a sharp contrast to the surge just weeks earlier.
Health
Turks and Caicos Islands Health Delegation Completes Strategic Visits to Florida and Cayman Islands to Advance Health Sector Reform and Strengthen Treatment Abroad Programme
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, 22 August 2025 — A high-level delegation from the Ministry of Health and Human Services (MOHHS) has successfully concluded strategic working visits to Florida and the Cayman Islands from August 5–13, 2025. The mission aimed to strengthen the Treatment Abroad Programme, explore innovative health system models, and advance the Turks and Caicos Islands’ health sector reform agenda through strategic regional partnerships.
Delegation Members:
- Hon. Kyle Knowles – Minister of Health and Human Services
MoHHS Team with Health City Executive Management Team
- Mrs. Desiree Lewis – Permanent Secretary, Health and Human Services
- Mr. Lynrod Brooks – Director, Health Policy and Planning
- Ms. Florinda Talbot – Contract Performance Manager
- Mrs. Romaine Missick-Smith – CEO, Health Regulations Authority
- Ms. Jasmine Malcolm – Executive Administrator, MOHHS
Minister of Health and Human Services, Hon. Kyle Knowles, highlighted the significance of these engagements:
“These visits were not ceremonial; they were strategic, focused, and impactful. In Florida, we reinforced partnerships with leading healthcare providers to ensure TCI patients referred overseas receive the highest standards of clinical care and patient support. In the Cayman Islands, our mission was two-fold: to study the operations of the Cayman Islands Health Services Authority as a model to guide the establishment of our own Health Services Authority, and to strengthen ties with Cayman-based treatment partners, where many of our patients are referred under the Treatment Abroad Programme. Both visits underscored that small island states share many health challenges, and that collaboration, innovation, and adapting best practices to our local context are essential to achieving better health outcomes for our people.”
Florida – Strengthening the Treatment Abroad Programme
MoHHS Team with Cayman Minsterial officials
During the period August 5–9, the delegation visited Broward Medical Center, University of Miami Health System, Cleveland Clinic, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, and the International Reinsurance Managers Network. They also toured REVA Air Ambulance Services to review medical evacuation operations and patient transfer management. Discussions centered on patient care pathways, specialized services in ophthalmology, cardiology, oncology, and pediatrics, family-centered care models, advanced telemedicine for pre- and post-treatment consultations, and reinsurance strategies for high-cost overseas cases. Key outcomes include agreements to expand telehealth consultations, develop a standardized referral package to reduce delays, explore reinsurance arrangements to safeguard public health budgets, and establish specialized pediatric transfer protocols.
Cayman Islands – Health Sector Reform and Treatment Abroad Partnerships
From August 10–13, the delegation engaged with senior executives at Health City Cayman Islands, including Dr. Binoy Chattuparambil (Clinical Director), Shomari Scott (Chief Business Development Officer), Rebecca Brooks (Head of Marketing and Sales), and Ingrid Harris (Sales and Marketing). The team toured two hospital facilities and held in-depth discussions with Lizzette Yearwood, Chief Executive Officer along with leadership staff of the Cayman Islands Health Services Authority
The focus was two-fold:
- Health Sector Reform – Examining governance, financial management, and operational structures of the Cayman Islands HSA model
MoHHS Team with CEO and senior official Cayman HSA
to inform TCI’s development of its own Health Services Authority.
- Treatment Abroad Strengthening – Reviewing current referral arrangements with Cayman healthcare partners to enhance patient care coordination and improve treatment pathways for TCI patients referred to Cayman.
The delegation also met with Honourable Katherine Ebanks-Wilks, Minister for Health, Environment, Sustainability, and Honourable G. Wayne Panton, Parliamentary Secretary for Health. The team concluded with a meeting with Acting Premier Hon. Gary B. Rutty and Cabinet members, reaffirming the shared commitment to improving healthcare access and outcomes through regional collaboration.
Next Steps
The Ministry will incorporate lessons learned from these visits into ongoing health reform planning, ensuring that the proposed Health Services Authority is tailored to TCI’s needs while reflecting regional best practices. Efforts will continue to ensure that the Treatment Abroad Programme delivers efficient, sustainable, and patient-centered care.
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