Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Penn tackles recurring issue of late payments to hospital staff

Penn tackles recurring issue of late payments to hospital staff

Health Minister Marlon Penn is assuring residents that he is working assiduously towards fixing the problem of late payments for staff at the BVI Health Services Authority.
“One of the things that I’ve done after becoming minister is to cut back on this issue of the staff not being paid,” Penn told reporters at a recent press conference.

According to the Health Minister, there was an issue previously in terms of the subvention assigned to that entity.

“I got confirmation from the Minister of Finance and the Acting Financial Secretary that the subvention is up to date as of [June 24], and I want to make sure that it’s clear that we got that confirmation,” Penn added.

Penn noted that this was necessary to ensure that the Authority at least gets the funds that are required for it to run its operations. He added that deficiencies can be examined and improved after this has been done.

“I am not one that makes excuses. I believe that if there’s a problem, we need to fix the problem. And the PS (Permanent Secretary) and I and the team have jumped right into it and said ‘look, let’s assess where we are in terms of the Health Service Authority’,” Penn said.

The minister further noted that there was a need for an assessment as to what needs to be addressed in terms of the ‘broken’ relationship between the BVIHSA, and the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme.

The Health Minister also spoke about the need for an assessment of the physical plant at the Dr D Orlando Smith Hospital (DOSH), and remedying any perceived deficiencies in that area.

“We’ve developed the RFP to look at the physical plant at the hospital and the deficiencies and what needs to be addressed in terms of the physical plant as well as the overall running of the institution,” Minister Penn said.

He added: “We’re looking at how we can address those deficiencies and improve the efficiency of the organisation. So, we’ve jumped right into it. We are doing the assessments that are necessary with a clear vision in a way forward for addressing those issues.”

Penn also addressed complaints surrounding the issue of deficient equipment at the DOSH, and noted that steps have already been taken in this regard.

“We’ve made some immediate steps to get the infrastructure up and running the key critical infrastructure up and running but, like I said, we’re doing a comprehensive review of that entire physical plant and then we’ll have a better grasp on what are the issues and how do we move forward from that,” he stated.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×