Health Minister talks improvements, possibilities and actualising the Mental Health facility

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, July 5, 2022 – The Grand Turk Mental Health Facility will be open by the end of 2022 but it is only one of several upgrades on the way for the healthcare system. Jamell Robinson, Minister of Health made the announcements last Tuesday (June 28) at a press conference detailing access to healthcare in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

About the clinic in Grand Turk he maintained, “[It will] significantly reduce our cost in terms of the people we have to treat abroad, they can come home now and access will be quicker for our persons here.”

The clinic will be a welcome addition for people in the Turks and Caicos as it means an improvement in mental patient care at home and faster responses to complaints by residents.

Additionally, a new Medical Officer and EMT supervisor plus six new EMTs will be sourced in this budget year. This along with the long-awaited ambulances, which are eight months away from being operation ready, will upgrade emergency services and allow faster response times, Robinson said.

Also in the plans are a Wellness Centre for North and Middle Caicos; and new clinics for Grand Turk and Providenciales.

In terms of secondary care improvements, the MRI and CT scan upgrades that are currently being carried out at the TCI Hospitals will improve imaging significantly, taking the current four slice CT machine to a 128-slice machine.

NHIB reform and improvements are also touted, two specialized managers for finance and operations will be employed to review the entire structure over the next two years in a quest for a system which is “running appropriately.”

The benefits package for the NHIB will also be reviewed and possibly enlarged.

“We’ll review all of the packets to see what more we can do,” he said.

The Minister of Health finally reminded residents how “blessed” the Turks and Caicos is to be able to benefit from such comprehensive healthcare.

“In most places unfortunately, if you can’t personally afford it, wherever your money runs out that’s where your healthcare runs out. It’s a reality, (but) here we are very blessed.”