St. Kitts and Nevis Appoints First Cardiologist at JNF Hospital

St. Kitts and Nevis: PM Dr. Terrance Drew announced the appointment of the country's first cardiologist at the JNF Hospital in St. Kitts and Nevis on Wednesday, June 24. The appointment marks a landmark moment in the medical history of the twin-island federation.

Dr. Drew asserted, “For the first time in our history, we now have a cardiologist, or heart doctor, at JNF.” While St. Kitts and Nevis officially welcomed Dr. Angel Luis Olivera, a highly renowned interventional cardiologist and professor from Cuba, to lead the establishment of its first comprehensive, in-country public cardiology service at the Joseph N. France (JNF) General Hospital.

This is a part of the Prime Minister’s flagship initiative of the "Sustainable Island Agenda” in which he widely voices his ideas about the development of the twin-island federation. The appointment follows other efforts in the medical sector such as reaching 100% inpatient temperature/AC control across all general medical wards and reopening a fully refurbished Private Ward after closure in COVID-19.

The healthcare transformation is heavily championed by Prime Minister and Minister of Health Dr. Terrance Drew as the PM is himself a doctor and served as a general practitioner and Internal Medicine specialist at the JNF Hospital, the largest public healthcare facility of the island. He has closely witnessed the gaps in facilities and openly admitted to them while promising a renewed version of the establishment.

In the past, under Dr. Drew's leadership, there have been major tangible advancements in the hospital such as the biweekly outpatient and 24-hour inpatient care, advanced diagnostics including in-house echocardiograms, 24-hour holter monitoring, and CT Angiogram services as well as critical infrastructure like in-country pacemaker insertion services.

Dr. Olivera is further advising the Ministry of Health on the infrastructure needed to build a permanent cardiac catheterisation lab right on the island. So far, there had to be a medical evacuation or overseas travel just for a preliminary specialized assessment in case of any cardiac emergency on the island. This initiative aims to build up local clinical protocols and train local medical staff in advanced cardiac imaging.

The aim is to shift the model from a "basic care and transfer" hospital to a local self-sustaining, multi-specialty medical center for the people of St. Kitts and Nevis. He is also in active discussions around the construction of a brand-new modern, climate-resilient flagship general hospital for the country.

In the post, Dr. Drew highlighted the appointment, “This represents the continued expansion of specialized services at our hospital” Other recent appointments include that of Emergency Room Specialist, Vascular Surgeon, Endocrinologist, Neurologist, Intensive Care Specialist and additional Nephrologists and Urologists.