BVIHSA: Funding, staffing & global impacts are the major challenges
Mr Jones and Acting Chief Executive Officer of the BVIHSA, Dr June M. Samuel, were guests on Talking Points on ZBVI 780 AM on Monday, January 19, 2026.
Co-host Elvin G. Grant asked Mr Jones about the challenges the BVIHSA is facing.
He prefaced his answer by saying that the best healthcare providers across the world have their challenges regarding financial funding, regarding the cost of healthcare.
“We are living in a dynamic environment now where you have the cost of healthcare going up, logistics, suppliers, ecetera and so right across the world, healthcare providers are facing challenges.”
VI has its own challenges
The BVIHSA has its own challenges, he said, adding, “We are smart enough to look at our finances in a very profound way and also to make some financial decisions as we navigate the choppy waters.”
The first challenge the BVIHSA is facing is funding.
“The government on a whole across the world have challenges in terms of funding, and so we have to navigate those waters very carefully and make sure we provide service to our patients.”
The second challenge, Mr Jones said, is staffing.
“When you look at what is happening across the region and globally, the BVI has some challenges in recruiting workers. And so again, we would have to look carefully at how to manage those types of resources and the type of people that we would recruit.”
As for the third challenge, Mr Jones said it has to do with what is happening globally in terms of healthcare and how the BVIHSA can plan to implement new services.
Becoming financially sustainable
Dr Samuel added that sustainable funding that works for the VI is the fundamental challenge the BVIHSA is facing.
“There are different models and…it is not unique to us, everywhere is trying to grapple with what’s the best funding model.”
She explained that the BVIHSA is a statutory body that is not “revenue-earning” or revenue-generating” as it was never set up that way.
“I think it is part of our vision as we move forward, that yes, we have to, and the government has been very clear to us that we must get to the place where we generate revenues.”
Dr Samuel said the goal is for the BVIHSA to become financially sustainable, though not necessarily to make a profit.
“[We need to] definitely sustain ourselves and be a little less dependent on government, so that is a key strategic goal for the organisation, and that is why getting the strategic plan done was important because we all have to have the same focus moving forward.”
She added that if there are financial challenges and there is a desire to hire the best and most competent staff, “you have to be able to attract those staff”.
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5 Responses to “BVIHSA: Funding, staffing & global impacts are the major challenges”
How many locals go to study in the USA and after graduating how many has the BVIHSA has retained to work locally
Some shifts on many days are all expacts because all the locals quit in less than 5yrs ranging from Doctors and Nurses
The question again WHY WHY is this happening
Make an investigation on all Wards Clincs and the ER then you see the ratio of locals to expacts in the BVIHSA which lead to poor salary scales poor benefits poor retirement living standards which leads to substandard care treatment and work proformance
There is no incentives to look forward towards for years of service of five ten fifteen twenty or twenty five years of services only your last monthly salary and a few weeks to leave the island if you not married to a local
That what the CEO and the Board need to concentrate on and improve if we want the best to coincide with the moto (EXCELLENCE)