After nearly a decade of unmet demand for specialized psychiatric care, St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) has marked a turning point for its public mental health system with the appointment of seasoned Cuban psychiatrist Dr. Eloy Asanza Castillo to the country’s Mental Health Rehabilitation Centre (MHRC). The long-awaited hire closes a critical staffing gap that health officials have struggled to resolve for 10 years, and anchors a sweeping government plan to transform mental healthcare across the island nation.
Health Minister Daniel Cummings, who took office in December following the New Democratic Party’s victory in November’s general election, made the official appointment announcement during a press briefing held in Kingstown on Thursday, June 25, 2026. Cummings framed Castillo’s arrival as a core milestone in the new administration’s three-pronged mental health strategy: destigmatizing mental illness, decentralizing care services away from centralized institutional settings, and moving away from long-term dehumanizing institutionalization for patients.
“Today we are privileged to welcome a very competent, deeply experienced physician to the MHRC who will guide our work in this critical public health space,” Cummings told reporters. He emphasized that what makes this hire particularly meaningful is that Castillo has relocated to SVG permanently with his entire family, not just taken a temporary posting. With decades of practice across the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa, Castillo brings a wealth of global and regional expertise that fits perfectly with SVG’s reform goals, the minister added. “He has chosen to settle here, work here, and become part of our community – that makes him one of us, and I could not be happier to have Dr. Castillo on our team,” Cummings said.
For his part, Castillo described himself as a “simple guy” with 33 years of hands-on psychiatric experience spanning multiple countries. His first overseas posting brought him to neighboring St. Lucia as part of a bilateral government cooperation agreement, followed by roles in Venezuela and, most recently, a 10-year practice in South Africa. The psychiatrist noted that he had been in discussions with SVG’s Ministry of Health for roughly three years before personal circumstances aligned to allow him to accept the permanent post. “I’m very happy it finally worked out, and I’m thrilled to be part of this important effort to improve mental health care here,” he said.
Castillo also praised the existing local MHRC team for their ongoing community-focused outreach work, noting that he was particularly impressed to see young care providers traveling directly into communities, learning patients by name, tracking their needs, and delivering consistent ongoing care including critical medication services. “I’m really happy to be here, and I will put all my effort into supporting this wonderful team of mental health professionals and serving the people of SVG,” he added.
Alongside the celebratory announcement of Castillo’s appointment, Cummings used the press conference to push back against recent critical media coverage that he said falsely painted MHRC staff as uncaring and unqualified, without any substantive investigative work. The minister argued that these unsubstantiated reports are not just dishonest – they also erode public trust in the government’s ability to deliver essential mental health services and harm the morale of care providers.
“These kinds of uninvestigated claims have a serious impact on public confidence. If people believe the government runs an institution staffed by incompetent providers, that undermines everything we’re working to build, and this is far too serious an issue for political games,” Cummings said. He specifically highlighted Dr. Alisa Alvis, the MHRC’s administrative head and lead psychologist, as an example of the highly trained, dedicated local staff already serving the institution. Alvis, who holds a doctorate in psychology, has been carrying dual administrative and clinical responsibilities for years amid the staffing gap, and Cummings praised her extraordinary commitment and expertise.
The defense of local staff comes after a high-profile court proceeding in April, when Chief Magistrate Colin John rejected mental fitness reports prepared by Alvis and two local non-psychiatric physicians, ruling they did not hold the required medical qualifications to assess a defendant’s fitness to plead. Alvis, in her role as head of mental health services, and the Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary have also been summoned to court over the MHRC’s failure to complete a required mental health report for an accused defendant with a documented history of mental illness.
Cummings made clear that Castillo’s appointment is just the first step in a broader overhaul of SVG’s mental health system. The government’s reform agenda includes expanding early intervention programs in schools, rolling out community-based decentralized care services across the country, and adding a dedicated acute mental health wing to SVG’s new public hospital.
The minister also shared that a recent visit to the existing MHRC facility in Glen was one of the most difficult experiences of his early tenure, confirming longstanding reports of severely dilapidated conditions for both patients and staff. For decades, Cummings said, the facility has functioned more as a holding cell than a rehabilitation center, keeping patients in a segregated, resource-poor captive environment with little support to transition back to community life as healthy, independent people. But that status quo is changing rapidly, he emphasized.
Alvis told reporters that the MHRC currently cares for roughly 150 inpatients at any time, including around 120 long-term patients, many of whom have no other housing or support outside the facility. She noted that through early outreach and improved care planning, the facility has already reduced inpatient numbers from a peak of around 190, and further cuts to unnecessary long-term hospitalization are planned. The reform strategy focuses on stronger discharge planning, deeper engagement with patients’ families, and expanded community-based care that allows patients to receive treatment in their own homes instead of requiring institutional admission. “When people can access care close to home, they stay connected to their communities and have far better outcomes,” Alvis explained. “That’s the core of our decentralization effort, and it’s already delivering results.”
