Topic: Ministry of Health
Cayman prepared as Nipah virus risk remains low
Cayman’s CMO Dr. Hilary Wolf says the risk of the zoonotic Nipah virus reaching Cayman is low, but authorities are maintaining close surveillance and laboratory readiness.
Caymanian surgeon appointed CMO for North Carolina hospital
Caymanian surgeon and healthcare professional Dr. Joel Rose has been appointed chief medical officer and vice president of medical affairs at UNC Health Wayne...
Proposed Cancer Registry Bill calls for mandatory reporting of cases
A new bill being drawn up by government will propose mandating doctors to report cancer cases, the Ministry of Health has confirmed.
New CMO Dr. Hilary Wolf shares plans for first 100 days
Cayman’s new Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hilary Wolf, has set out a focused agenda for her first 100 days as she takes over the reins from Dr. Nick Gent, who retired at the end of September.
Community meeting set to discuss mental health
The Mental Health Commission and the Poinciana Mental Health Advisory Council will hold a public meeting on Thursday, 13 Nov.
Residents will have the opportunity...
US global health expert appointed chief medical officer
Dr. Hilary Wolf, a US global health leader with two decades of experience tackling infectious diseases across multiple continents, has been appointed Cayman's chief medical officer.
HPV vaccine drive seeks to prevent certain cancers
The annual, free HPV vaccination drive for school age children and young adults, ages 9-25, returns this September and October in an effort to prevent certain cancers caused by the human papillomavirus.
Ministry of Health monitoring new COVID variant
The Ministry of Health, Environment & Sustainability, together with the Public Health department, has confirmed it is monitoring the emergence of a new COVID...
Chief Medical Officer Nick Gent to stand down when contract ends
The Ministry of Health will start recruiting for a new chief medical officer after announcing that the current CMO, Dr. Nick Gent, will be leaving his post.
Fake mpox story making rounds
A fake news story purporting to be a Cayman Compass article about mpox, formerly called monkeypox, being detected in the community is circulating on social media.
No mpox in Cayman, but health officials prepare for risk
The Ministry of Health & Wellness has issued an advisory for mpox, formerly called monkeypox, in light of a World Health Organization alert.
Health officials warn about Oropouche virus
The Cayman Islands Ministry of Health and Wellness has issued an advisory notice to local residents to warn them of the risk of transmission of Oropouche virus, which can be spread by mosquitoes.
Public Health Department will not be independent until 2024
It will be next year at the earliest that the Public Health Department will be independent of the Health Services Authority, according to Health Minister Sabrina Turner.
20 hospitalised with COVID in March, 1 death reported
According to the latest Ministry of Health update, one COVID-positive person died and 20 with the virus were admitted to hospital during March.
Health ministry ordered to disclose data to unsuccessful MRCU jobseeker
Ombudsman Sharon Roulstone has ordered the Ministry of Health to release information to an applicant about why he was not chosen for a job in the Mosquito Research and Control Unit, almost two years after he first requested the data under a Freedom of Information request.
Survey to gauge health of the nation to begin this summer
A national health survey to determine the prevalence of risk factors for non-communicable diseases will be carried out this summer across the Cayman Islands.
Health ministry warns of fake Ebola email
The Ministry of Health and Wellness issued a statement Wednesday advising that information being circulated via email and Whatsapp about flight restrictions due to an Ebola outbreak is fake.
Health ministry exploring prevalence of dementia
The Ministry of Health and Wellness says it is working on determining the prevalence of dementia cases in the Cayman Islands, acknowledging that the statistics currently available are likely an underestimation.
Mandatory Cancer Registry on health ministry’s radar
The Ministry of Health and Wellness says it will be revisiting the possibility of creating a mandatory Cancer Registry in Cayman.
Public Health to separate from HSA, become independent entity
Cayman's Public Health department will be separating from the Health Services Authority, to become an independent body, Minister of Health Sabrina Turner has announced.
Activities Mark International Observance Promoting Elimination of Violence Against Women
The Cayman Islands joins the rest of the world today in observing International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which in turn kicks off 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence.
Ministry of Health mum on replacing MRCU director
The Ministry of Health is keeping quiet on the absence of Mosquito Research and Control Unit director Dr. James McNelly, amid rumours that his contract has not been renewed.
MRCU director: I will not resign
Mosquito Research and Control Unit director James McNelly said he has no intentions of resigning, this after an alleged letter of no confidence in his leadership was leaked.
Cayman UK office urges registration amid coronavirus fears
Cayman’s UK office has called on all Caymanians overseas and those travelling to the UK to register with government representative offices or British embassies.
Health officials on high alert following dengue cases
Local health officials said they have heightened surveillance efforts in the wake of six confirmed cases of dengue fever in Grand Cayman. They are urging the public to take steps to eradicate any possible mosquito breeding places for the disease-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito to help control the spread of the virus.
Performing arts camp inspires students
The Cayman Arts Trust provided its first free performing arts camps this summer for children attending Cayman’s government schools. George Town Primary School hosted the programme, which covered two weeks of activities.
Contractors chosen for mental health facility
Ministry of Health officials say contractors have been picked for the delayed long-term mental health facility in East End, and construction is expected to begin in October.
Ministry names new chief medical officer
The Ministry of Health has named Dr. John Lee to serve as its most senior adviser on healthcare matters.
PAHO leads climate change workshop
Last week about 50 people from the Cayman Islands public and private sectors attended a two-day session, organised by the Pan American Health Organization and the Ministry of Health, on the impacts of climate change on health and health systems.
Seymour: On World Health Day, ensuring healthcare access for all
Government will continue to push for still-greater strides to be made in this fundamental field of healthcare.
Mental health facility faces more delays
Plans for a $1-million mental health facility in East End face further delays with government re-opening the bidding process for construction of the new development.
Mental health facility remains in limbo
Delays in the construction of a new mental health facility for the Cayman Islands continue and Ministry of Health officials have declined to say when the project might actually get off the ground.
Health Ministry supports YMCA afterschool program
The Ministry of Health focused on giving back to the children of the Cayman Islands at the start of the new year by assisting in the YMCA Extended After-School Program.
Jamaican epidemic sparks dengue fever concerns
Dengue fever is not currently a problem in the Cayman Islands. And local health officials want to keep it that way.
EDITORIAL: The landfill saga continues – seemingly without end
The long wait continues, despite last year’s selection of a Dart group-led consortium to build and operate what officials like to call an “Integrated Solid Waste Management System” (or “ISWMS”) but what we’ll refer to as a “new landfill.”
Cayman patients can get multiple prescriptions for same drug
The Ministry of Health is still working on legislation to replace a nearly 40-year-old Pharmacy Law that, among other things, does not prevent people from using different doctors to obtain multiple prescriptions for the same drug.
Mosquito Research and Control Unit appoints new director
The Mosquito Research and Control Unit announced on Tuesday that it has appointed James McNelly as its new director.
Public meeting sheds light on mental health facility
The Ministry of Health held a public meeting at the East End Civic Centre on Wednesday night to discuss the district’s planned mental health facility.
EDITORIAL – When withholding the truth has consequences
As representatives of the public’s interest, government’s first impulse must be to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
Mental health facility goes to Department of Planning
Architectural plans for Cayman’s first residential mental-health retreat, 54 beds in nine cottages on 15 acres in East End, are set to go to the Planning Department this month ahead of a scheduled summer 2018 groundbreaking.
Bodden Town Mission House gets pre-Christmas makeover
The Mission House in Bodden Town got a pre-Christmas makeover Monday by members of the Ministry of Health, Environment, Culture and Housing.
For the love of Cayman’s health
“Does anyone have any diet restrictions or things you’re following?” Ritz-Carlton executive pastry chef Melissa Logan asked her audience on Friday at the Cayman Islands Healthcare Conference. “I can tell you, I do.”
New mental health facility to be based on model farm in US
When health officials signed a nearly $900,000 contract 10 days ago to design a long-term home for the mentally ill, Cayman offered hope to dozens of people and their families.
Health insurance enforcement ‘suffers’ from underfunding
Cayman’s health insurance regulator will receive one additional inspector shortly, but senior civil servants acknowledged that will not solve the beleaguered agency’s troubles in keeping up with demand in a growing local healthcare industry.
EDITORIAL – The health of healthcare in the Cayman Islands
If the Cayman Islands healthcare system were a patient, its medical case file would be a meter thick, containing a myriad of specialists’ assessments in regard to various disorders, illnesses and syndromes, payments to care providers, insurance rates, and government-mandated health insurance payroll deductions from all employers and employees.
Cabinet approves sending landfill plan out for bids
Cabinet on Tuesday approved a new plan for the George Town landfill, including a waste-to-energy plant to incinerate waste. The new waste management strategy calls for capping the landfill, creating a new recycling facility on the site and reducing the amount of waste going into the landfill by 95 percent.
Hospital gets high-tech X-ray facility
The Health Services Authority has built a new X-ray facility at the Cayman Islands Hospital, refitting an examination room and installing the state-of-the-art $400,000 machine, streamlining the once-cumbersome diagnostic process.
EDITORIAL – CarePay audit: No clean bill of public health
Case closed on CarePay? For the sake of the people of the Cayman Islands who are picking up the tab for this sordid affair, it better not be.
EDITORIAL – Auditing the CarePay audit
When identifying the factors for gross financial malfeasance, accountants are okay, but police officers are far better. The difference is that accountants carry calculators, while the police carry handcuffs.
EDITORIAL – The verdict on the verdict: A good start
The conviction of former Health Services Authority chairman Canover Watson for fraud and breach of trust answers one question about the public hospital system’s CarePay scheme, but raises a legion of others about corruption, complicity, indifference and incompetence in the highest levels of the Cayman Islands officialdom.
CarePay to solve all our problems, Watson tells court
Details of private discussions regarding the CarePay hospital patient swipe-card contract that took place between Aug. 11-12, 2010 – four months before the US$13 million contract was agreed by government – were reviewed in Canover Watson’s criminal trial Thursday.
CarePay trial: Bank chief confirms ‘loan’ to Webb
The head of Fidelity Bank in the Cayman Islands confirmed that representatives of his bank approved a US$240,000 loan to local businessman Jeffrey Webb in June 2011.
Top stories of 2015: CarePay contract trial gets under way
Cayman ended 2015 with a major corruption trial involving healthcare contracts and allegations against some prominent Caymanian businesspeople.
CarePay company's 'sham' directors linked to Webb
Both Caymanian men who ostensibly ran the local branch of the company that was awarded a five-year, US$13 million contract to implement the CarePay hospital patient swipe-card system in December 2010 had close personal ties to businessman Jeffrey Webb, a Cayman Islands government minister told the Grand Court on Wednesday.
CarePay trial: 'No way' ministry could pay contract, says witness
A government financial manager refused to authorize a US$1.2 million payment for the proposed expansion of the CarePay patient swipe-card contract, even though his superiors at the Ministry of Health had already green-lighted the payment, jurors in the criminal trial of Canover Watson heard Tuesday.
CarePay trial: Government pays US$1.8M, then asks, 'Where is contract?'
As late as September 2013 – two years after it had already spent the majority of the funds – the Cayman Islands Health Services Authority was still trying to find a copy of the business contract that purported to authorize government to spend up to US$2.4 million on the proposed expansion of the CarePay patient swipe-card system, a Cayman Islands jury heard Monday.
CarePay trial: Defense: Witnesses brought to police interview by gov't minister
What was described as a surprise police interview conducted with three civil servants during the CarePay contract investigation last year was arranged by a Cayman Islands government minister, defense attorneys suggested during testimony Friday.
CarePay trial: Judge asks about US$2.4 million 'contract'
The payment of US$2.4 million for the proposed expansion to the private sector of the Cayman Islands Hospital’s CarePay patient swipe-card system prompted questions from the Grand Court judge presiding over the trial.
CarePay trial: Health Ministry duped into paying $1.2M, claims Crown
Cayman Islands businessman Canover Watson deceived local government officials into paying an additional US$1.2 million for the expansion of a public hospital patient swipe-card system by “doctoring” copies of the initial CarePay card contract and sending it to Ministry of Health officials in August 2011, Crown prosecutors said Thursday.
Fifty-six jurors excused from Watson and Rodriguez trial
A jury panel was chosen on Friday for the trial of Canover Watson and Miriam Rodriguez, but not before 56 of 70 potential jurors were excused. The seven jurors and two reserves chosen were scheduled to begin hearing the matter on Monday, Nov. 23.
Recycling to expand in the new year
Government is working to get more recycling stations set up around the islands in the beginning of next year, according to Jim Schubert with the Public Works Department.
Dump strategy on view
The Ministry of Health and Culture is holding open house sessions to familiarize the public with its proposed national solid waste management strategy.
New assistant director at landfill
The Department of Environmental Health has hired engineer Mark Rowlands as its new assistant director, in charge of solid waste.
Landfill to reach capacity in 2021, say consultants
Consultants say the George Town landfill will reach capacity by summer of 2021 unless a new strategy for managing solid waste is introduced.
A new National Solid Waste Management Strategy for the Cayman Islands, released for public consultation Monday, estimates that even with all of the recommendations to reduce and recycle trash, the George Town landfill would have only “a limited number of years” beyond 2021.
Lockhart: More than 4,000 need mental health help
Last month, the newly formed Cayman Islands Mental Health Commission raised some eyebrows when it reported that about 4,000 people here had sought access to mental health services in 2013.
CarePay trial to start in mid-November
Jury selection in the corruption trial of Canover Watson, Cayman’s former Health Services Authority board chairman, is due to begin in mid-November.
Heart Fund to open World Heart Day gates to all
The Cayman Heart Fund has canceled ticket sales to its upcoming celebration of World Heart Day, throwing open to everyone, gratis, the gates to the event Saturday at Camana Bay.
Scholarship offered to doctors for specialist training
The Cayman Islands Seafarers Association will sponsor two Caymanian doctors over the next four years as they train to become specialists.
Agricultural pioneers sought for Heroes Day recognition
Premier Alden McLaughlin and Agriculture Minister Kurt Tibbetts will oversee nominations of Caymanian farmers who will be recognized as pioneers of agriculture in the 2016 National Heroes Day celebrations.
Children and Family Services director retires
After a 33-year career in the Cayman Islands civil service, Alicia “Jen” Dixon retires Tuesday from her post as director of Children and Family Services.
New accountant general named
Cayman has a new accountant general.
Emergency services ignored protocol in road death, review says
The first emergency medical responders did not follow protocol and did not try to resuscitate a man who died in an early morning car accident two years ago, according to an independent review of the death.
