Caribbean region

American Canadian School Of Medicine In Dominica To Open In 2023

Four years ago, the students of the Ross University School of Medicine in Dominica, along with the staff, had to leave the island and move to the main campus in Barbados to continue with their studies. Hurricane Maria left the island in ruins in 2017, and continuing school in Dominica had been difficult to bear.

Ross University was the longest existing medical school in Dominica, operating for more than four decades in Picard, Portsmouth. The campus that used to be full with aspiring Dominican doctors and nurses remained unused for four years. But this will change in 2023.

At a budget hearing in July, Dominica’s prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced the opening of the American Canadian School of Medicine next year, filling in the void left by the departure of the premier medical school in the Caribbean. Skerrit said that “the government has received several expressions” about establishing another medical school in the island.

According to the prime minister, the American Canadian School of Medicine will offer four-year degrees in medicine and will be run by “an experienced team comprising doctors who have held positions at major universities in the United States.” This roster also includes a former vice president of operations at the Ross University School of Medicine.

The construction is overseen by CSOM Holdings Limited, and its completion is targeted before school begins in September next year.

“Most of the students are expected to come from Canada, the United States of America and the Caribbean,” said Skerrit.

Aside from the American Canadian School of Medicine, Dominica is also set to open more hospitals and healthcare facilities in the island. The Dominica China Friendship Hospital is almost completed, and the new Marigot Hospital is now complete and the medical equipment and furnishings are currently being installed. The construction of the new Reginald Armour Hospital, which will also be in Portsmouth, will commence soon.

One of the developing companies mandated by the government of Dominica to construct healthcare facilities in the island is Montreal Management Consultants (MMC) Development Ltd., a Dubai-based firm that has been instrumental to the housing initiative of the government.

MMC Development Ltd. is in charge of the development of the New Marigot Hospital and the twelve other health and wellness centres across the island. The centres are “comprised of two floors, and fitted with an emergency area, out-patient clinics, treatment room, as well as accommodation for medical staff,” according to MMC CEO Anthony Haiden. (Source Caribbean News Now)

Caribbean region

Caribbean Development Bank Appoints Daniel Best as New President

The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has announced Daniel Best as its seventh president, marking a significant leadership transition for the regional financial institution.

The Board of Governors selected Best after a comprehensive selection process, citing his extensive background in development finance and regional infrastructure. With advanced degrees from the University of Durham and the University of the West Indies, Best brings over two decades of experience in development policy and strategic planning.

Currently serving as a senior infrastructure and development adviser to Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Best emerged as the preferred candidate following a competitive selection that included two other high-profile candidates. He succeeds Dr. Hyginus ‘Gene’ Leon, who resigned earlier this year following an administrative leave dispute.

In an official statement, the CDB highlighted Best’s qualifications, emphasizing his deep understanding of Caribbean development challenges. The bank expressed confidence in his ability to lead strategic initiatives focused on reducing poverty and promoting sustainable growth across the region.

Best’s professional credentials include a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Durham, a Master’s in Construction Engineering and Management, and a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from the University of the West Indies. These qualifications position him to address the complex economic and infrastructural needs of Caribbean nations.

The incoming president is expected to guide the CDB through an evolving global economic landscape, with a primary focus on the bank’s core mandate of fostering inclusive development and addressing regional inequalities.

The selection process involved considering candidates from multiple Caribbean nations, including a Trinidad and Tobago vice president and a Bahamian vice president of operations. Best’s appointment reflects the bank’s commitment to identifying leadership with comprehensive regional expertise.

While details surrounding the previous president’s departure remain limited, the CDB has maintained its focus on securing strong leadership to continue its critical development mission.

Best is anticipated to assume his role in the coming months, bringing a fresh perspective to the bank’s strategic direction and regional development initiatives.

Caribbean region

Dominica-China Friendship Hospital

There is so much the Dominica-China Friendship Hospital has to offer, the prime minister of Dominica said.

In recent press conference, Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit shared a number of “high-class and modern services” offered at the premier hospital, including the free medical care offered to patients 16-18 years old.

“There’s a policy in place in the Dominica government that people who are within the age of 16 to 18 would be provided with free medical care,” Skerrit said, adding that the policy won’t change until the administration decides to.

He reiterated that this conforms with the international requirements, ensuring that “every citizen has access to medical care irrespective of their economic circumstances.”

In December last year, at the launch event of Melissa Poponne Skerrit for Roseau Central Constituency, Skerrit emphasized that the Dominica-China Friendship Hospital is now capable of offering cancer treatments that used to be inaccessible in the small island nation.

“I was told that Director of PAHO (Pan American Health Organization), Dr. Carissa Etienne, spoke highly of the project. She said these are world class services, some of which are not available in the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) and even the wider Caribbean in terms of the public health sector,” H.E. XianJiang Lin, Chinese ambassador to Dominica, said in a previous interview.

Skerrit also stated that “the government had introduced diagnostic tests in the hospital at Portsmouth constituency of Dominica,” and the intensive care unit (ICU) had been introduced but was not fully embraced locally.

The press conference answered questions from the public about why certain individuals continue to seek medical care abroad, in spite of the services already made available at the Dominica-China Friendship Hospital.

Skerrit lamented that the awareness about the hospital’s capability as a state-of-the-art medical institution on the island is inadequate, and said “his original plan for the hospital has not been fully implemented.”

Part of Dominica’s plans in becoming the world’s first climate-resilient nation is constructing more state-of-the-art healthcare institutions and facilities throughout the island.

Through the help of its Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme, Dominica has been able to build clinics in collaboration with MMC Development Ltd., a Dubai-based firm that has been instrumental to the housing initiative of the government of Dominica

MMC Development Ltd. is also the developer behind the New Marigot Hospital now in operations, with medical equipment and furnishings already in place. (Taken from Caribbean News now)