Belize Struggles to Staff New Hospitals Amid Global Healthcare Worker Shortage

With the construction of two new hospitals, the government hopes it will be able to properly staff the facilities. For years, the government has faced difficulties securing personnel for the country’s healthcare facilities, often leaving them understaffed. The country has not been able to compete with employment benefits offered by more developed countries, resulting in local nurses and doctors seeking employment abroad. Given the human resource difficulties, today, our newsroom asked Minister of Health Kevin Bernard how his ministry is preparing to staff the new hospitals. 

Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health and Wellness: “There will always be gaps but we have to fill those gaps and that’s why the bond that we have now been doing is ensuring that these people stay within the system as opposed to going to the private sector and then the bigger countries coming and poaching us. So we need to ensure that those that are bonded within the system are working within the system for a period of years. And so as the cycle of training continues so every year a new bunch of nurses come out so we’re hoping that by the next ten years we could fill whatever gaps that exist. Yes we are building a new tertiary hospital in Belmopan but that doesn’t mean that there will be two hospitals in Belmopan. We need to ensure that the number of staff that are needed to manage that new tertiary hospital that will come in Belmopan we will be able to have those necessary human resources. In Belize City as you know we’re planning to build a new hospital that will provide secondary care to support KHMH and so there will be new cadre of staff that will be needed for that facility. In San Pedro reason why I said we’re going to go to San Pedro because we want to ensure that by the time we have that program out the San Pedro facility would have already been built, we would have nurses to come in and we now have the University of Belize offering the medical school now doing new training for doctors. So that is also steps and the long term vision that we’re talking about in terms of making sure they fill these human resource gaps that exist. And it is our hope, again, that those who exist in the system right ow that they understand that Belize is their home and encourage them to… while I know incentives are great out there it is better when you’re home, to serve your people and to give back to your communities. At the end of the day you now as highlighted by Minister Zabaneh that the investment made is from the same public purse, the same citizens who pay taxes goes right back through these scholarships and so it’s for us to say let me give back to my community, let me stay in my country to work and to help my people.”

Bernard added that the ministry will begin going into schools to encourage the country’s youth to take up opportunities in the medical field.