Grenada to establish Teaching Hospital

by Michael Bascombe
ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, January 14, 2011 - The Grenada Government plans to establish a Teaching Hospital on the island which it says is aimed at leveraging the presence of the St George’s University (SGU).

Finance Minister Nazim Burke, in presenting the island’s US$301 million budget on Friday, said that such a facility would provide opportunities for the students to remain in Grenada for longer period to do their clinical rotations and internship. He said that the additional expenditure would have a significant impact on the domestic economy.

Medical schools in New York State have launched a campaign to persuade the Board of Regents to make it harder, if not impossible, for foreign schools to use New York hospitals as extensions of their own campuses, according to a report in the New York Times last month.

“This thrust is also timely in light of the posture of certain teaching hospitals in the USA to attempt to limit the intake of students from Caribbean medical schools,” he said.

He said that Government believes the establishment of a Teaching Hospital in Grenada would raise the standard and quality of health care for citizens at home, citizens abroad desirous of returning home to retire as well as visitors.

The Grenada Government and the SGU signed a new agreement late last year which includes the availability of more scholarships for Grenadians, equipment and support for specialists at the main hospital in St George’s.

Mr Burke said that as part of the agreement, Government and the SGU have agreed on the necessity for a Teaching Hospital and as a first step, the University will develop a Clinical Teaching Programme at the General Hospital later this year.