We still have a mentality of off-island care is better- Dr Sharlon Lewis
Dr Lewis was speaking on Talking Points on Monday, September 29, 2025, on ZBVI 780 AM, where she said, “In BVIHSA, they have a lot of really good doctors, and I very often I actually refer my patients to them to try and get further investigations and then management done.”
Across the world, October is being celebrated as Breast Cancer Awareness Month under the theme ‘Every Story is Unique, Every Journey Matters’.
Dr Lewis was a guest on the show, along with Ms Gloria A. Fahie, President of the BVI Cancer Society, and Ms Abigail O'Neal, aka Abby, Immediate Past President of the Rotary Club of Tortola.
A lot can be done right here
She added that people in the VI do not realise just how much is actually available through the National Health Insurance (NHI), “We still have this mentality that if you want the best care, you have to go off island. There is a lot that can be done right here.”
Dr Lewis said a large amount is removed from people’s salaries every month for NHI; however, they do not take advantage of the services.
“They still don’t go and get their wellness checks done, or their cancer screening done, because they still have in their mind, I think, that going to the doctor is so expensive. But I think we can attest that not going to the doctor is even more expensive, because by the time you don’t go, and something is gone on so far, that you almost miss the mark."
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6 Responses to “We still have a mentality of off-island care is better- Dr Sharlon Lewis”
"We still have a mentality of off-island care is better- Dr Sharlon Lewis.
It may not just be a mentality but a reality.
Seems NHI and VI Health Care may be falling short.
Hospital, Laundrys, schools, community centres all seems to funded by charitable Fund Me's.
Without Government Audits it is hard to say where HOA13 hae tucked away $3 Billion in the last 8 years but it is not going to the people or infrastructure of the VI.
Not a mentality.
This is VI Reality.
The money is all missing!!!!!! And so is everything else that it would have brought us.