BVIHSA CEO urges gov’t to prioritise healthcare like financial services

Acting Chief Executive Officer of the BVI Health Services Authority (BVIHSA), Dr June Samuel, has urged the government to place healthcare delivery at the centre of national priorities, warning that long-standing funding, staffing and policy gaps continue to strain the territory’s main public healthcare provider.

Speaking on the Talking Points programme recently, Dr Samuel said the Authority remained committed to delivering “excellent and compassionate care” but stressed that sustainable healthcare could not be achieved without stronger national focus and structural support from central government.

“The approach that governments should take should be the same approach you take to financial services,”  Dr Samuel said. “When an issue comes up in financial services, governments come together, and they sort it out across governments… healthcare and education are your two areas where that should be the approach.”

She said the BVIHSA continued in its mission to deliver excellent and compassionate care to all those it served, adding that work was underway to revamp systems and processes to ensure that the patient, which she described as the centre of the Authority’s purpose, received the care they needed.

Dr Samuel explained that Health Services Authority, which operates the Dr D Orlando Smith Hospital and 13 clinics across the territory, was never intended to be a revenue-generating entity and remains heavily dependent on government subventions. She said the Authority faced the same pressures seen globally, including rising healthcare costs, staffing shortages and increased competition for skilled professionals.

“The fundamental challenge is about sustainable funding in a model that would work for us in the BVI,” she said, noting that while the Authority must explore ways to become more financially sustainable, it was “not set up as a business”.

Dr Samuel said the Authority had “done the work” by providing data, financial analysis and strategic plans to policymakers, but maintained that meaningful improvement required a coordinated national response.

Concerns about healthcare financing, staffing shortages and infrastructure have plagued the BVIHSA for years, with lawmakers repeatedly raising questions about whether existing funding arrangements adequately reflect the true cost of care.