Barbados’ health care sector has been bolstered with the arrival of 70 Cuban medical practitioners, including four specialised doctors.
Minister of State in the Ministry of Health Dr Sonia Browne was part of the welcoming party, including Cuban Ambassador Sergio Pastrana and deputy chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital board of directors Nigel Whitehall, at Grantley Adams International Airport yesterday afternoon.
Browne said Barbados was eternally grateful to the Cuban government.
“Brought on more by COVID-19, we’re definitely in need of specialised personnel in the health care system. Right now we’re short of specialised nurses and to some extent doctors, and we’ve welcomed today some 70 people from Cuba with various specialities. We have four doctors, ICU-trained, lab specialists four, and the others comprise nurses with different specialties.”
This marks the third cohort of Cuban nurses Barbados has received since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The last batch of 126 nurses left the island last week.
Browne said no training would be done as the nurses would form an addition to the workforce. (RA)
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