Four highly specialized healthcare workers have touched down on the Caribbean island of Nevis, marking a critical milestone in the long-awaited launch of the territory’s first-ever dedicated dialysis unit at Alexandra Hospital, set to open later this year. The new arrivals include three haemodialysis nurses recruited from the Philippines, each holding specialized certification and years of hands-on clinical experience treating patients with chronic kidney disease, alongside a trained biomedical technician tasked with maintaining the unit’s advanced medical machinery and supporting broader clinical operations across the Ministry of Health. In an official welcome ceremony hosted by the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), Honourable Senator Jahnel Nisbett, Nevis’ Minister of Health, formally greeted the new team members, who will join the growing care cohort for the upcoming facility. “The arrival of these skilled professionals isn’t just another hiring milestone—it means every key piece of our plan is finally coming together,” Nisbett said during the event. “Construction and equipment are important, but you can’t deliver safe, high-quality renal care without people who have the right expertise. For our residents who currently travel multiple times a week to St. Kitts for life-sustaining treatment, that burdensome routine will soon be a thing of the past.” The unit’s construction remains on schedule for full completion by the end of the third quarter of 2026. Once operational, the facility will feature five cutting-edge dialysis treatment stations and will have capacity to care for up to 20 local patients at any given time. Currently, nine Nevisians rely on regular dialysis treatment, eight of whom receive financial support from the NIA to access off-island care in neighboring St. Kitts—a burden that the new unit will eliminate entirely. NIA Premier Mark Brantley recently confirmed that all specialized medical equipment for the unit has already been purchased, delivered to Nevis, and secured in storage ahead of installation. Brantley also emphasized the administration’s intentional investment in building a multidisciplinary care team to support the facility long-term, which will include a full-time nephrologist, a specialized haemodialysis nurse manager, and additional allied health support staff to ensure consistent, exceptional care for patients living with chronic kidney disease. The entire $1.3 million USD project, covering facility construction, staff recruitment, and the first two years of operating costs, is fully funded by a grant from developer Olivier Janssens and his team through the Destiny Special Sustainability Zone (SSZ) Project. Local health officials and NIA leaders project that the new unit will transform access to renal care on Nevis, bringing life-sustaining specialized treatment directly to local patients, eliminating the stress, cost, and logistical burden of frequent cross-island travel, and improving long-term health outcomes for the island’s chronic kidney disease community.
Specialist Dialysis Staff Begin Arriving on Nevis as Unit Nears Completion
