Grenada: Health Minister puts hold over false Hospital Privatisation Rumours

Grenada: The Minister of Health, Philip A Telesford has put a hold on false information spreading over social media stating the privatisation of Government hospitals across the island by the start of 2025. 

The Minister stated the reports to be completely false, misleading, and deliberately designed to cause unnecessary panic and confusion among the public. He reassured that all the government-operated hospitals will remain publicly owned. 

"The Government of Grenada has no intention to privatize any of its three (3) state-owned hospitals,” the Minister of Health said. 

The Minister of Health further highlighted that the government is taking top priority for the healthcare system across Grenada. He added that for the same purpose, a lot of structural changes are expected to take place across the island. 

Recently, the Ministry of Health also participated in the New York-based Mount Sinai Hospital to develop strategic relationships with them. This partnership is set for a period of 18 months and it included assisting the hospital authorities with the improvement in services offered. 

Mount Sinai, on the other hand, will also work side by side with the local authorities of Grenada with a single mission to strengthen service delivery. The Minister highlighted that these arrangements further act as proof that the hospitals are not going to be privatized. 

The government is paying for this service and there are specific delivery targets from the arrangement. During the first trimester of the system, the authorities will drill down into operations to assess shortcomings and make recommendations for improvements. 

The next 15 months of the program will be a hand-holding period where the experts will work alongside the staff to strengthen the management of the facilities. 

Notably, the citizen reaction to the statement released by the authorities and the launch of new initiatives is drawing mixed reactions on social media. 

One of the users named Marlyn Evans stated privatization to be a good idea as he wrote, “But privatization isn't a bad idea if it will improve the health care services offered remember we're always asking for help to travel outside of Grenada to the very said mentioned hospital for services. just mind that money can remain here if this happens.”

Another user named Hazelann Lamoth stated her views on Facebook as she wrote the partnership to be useful for Grenadians. 

“I think that’s a great idea partnership with Mount Sinai Hospital. They specialize in many areas. The hospital workers in Grenada can benefit a great deal. Sinai is very big on their customers/ patient care services which the nurses surely need in Grenada. I recently experienced the lack of care and don’t care attitude with the nurses in one of the hospitals in Grenada. I was embarrassed. I know for a fact what am saying I’ve been an employee with Sinai for the past 12 years and counting. Great choice the Grenadians desperately need better care,” Hazelann Lamoth said. 

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