分类： health

The Medical Association of Antigua and Barbuda (MAAB) has issued an official statement mourning the passing of retired veteran general surgeon Dr. Ramamurthi Bekal, who died peacefully at his personal residence on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. He was 94 years old at the time of his death.

On behalf of the entire national medical community, the MAAB extended its deepest condolences to Bekal’s family, close friends, and professional colleagues who worked alongside him throughout his decades-long career. A towering figure in Antigua and Barbuda’s local surgical landscape, Dr. Bekal dedicated more than 35 years of service to the island nation’s primary public healthcare facility, Holberton Hospital.

Far beyond his role as a practicing clinician, Dr. Bekal stood as a foundational steward of Antigua and Barbuda’s institutional medical knowledge. Over his decades of practice, he served as a committed mentor to emerging medical talent, directly shaping the professional trajectories of multiple generations of local physicians who continue to serve the nation today.

Colleagues and patients alike will remember Dr. Bekal most vividly for his calm, unassuming demeanor, unwavering compassion for those in his care, and lifelong dedication to patient advocacy. His signature patient-centered approach to care became a model for young clinicians, demonstrating that advanced surgical expertise achieves its greatest impact when paired with genuine empathy and a gentle, caring spirit.

Today, his legacy endures both in the hundreds of lives he saved through his skilled work and in the community of medical professionals he trained, who continue to practice medicine with the same unwavering integrity and quiet grace that defined Dr. Bekal’s daily practice. The 2026–2028 MAAB Executive Team reaffirmed that the association holds the Bekal family in its thoughts and prayers as they navigate this period of loss, and offered a final tribute: may Dr. Ramamurthi Bekal rest in eternal peace.

A milestone improvement to local emergency medical care has arrived in eastern Antigua, as a brand-new ambulance has been officially deployed to the Glanvilles Polyclinic to strengthen response capabilities across the St Philip district and its surrounding communities. At the official handover ceremony held to mark the occasion, incumbent area Parliamentary Representative Randy Baltimore hailed the addition as a transformative, long-awaited win for residents of the island’s eastern corridor.

Baltimore opened his remarks by extending public gratitude to the nation’s Ministry of Health for advancing the initiative that local communities had anticipated for years. Addressing a gathered audience of emergency medical personnel, nurses, and attending physicians, he emphasized that the new vehicle would fill a critical gap in the region’s emergency care infrastructure, directly supporting life-saving interventions when patients need urgent care.

“Every second counts” when responding to medical emergencies, Baltimore stressed, a reminder of how reduced wait times can dramatically change patient outcomes in critical situations. He outlined that the enhanced emergency service will deliver tangible, direct benefits to communities across both St Philip’s North and South constituencies, as well as nearby neighboring villages, by expanding access to rapid on-demand medical assistance that was previously less accessible in the geographically distant eastern region.

Turning to the emergency medical technicians and paramedics who will operate the new ambulance, Baltimore highlighted the irreplaceable value of their frontline work. He framed the vehicle itself as more than just medical equipment: “This is your office, and within it, you will make the difference between a crisis and a success story.”

A key additional benefit of the permanent deployment, Baltimore explained, is that basing the ambulance in Glanvilles will cut the region’s reliance on ambulances that have historically had to travel all the way from St John’s to respond to calls in eastern Antigua. This shift will not only slash average response times for emergency calls in St Philip, but also ease operational pressure on the already stretched existing emergency medical services based in the capital.

Following the formal handover ceremony, the new ambulance is scheduled to enter immediate service, becoming a core component of ongoing government efforts to expand and strengthen emergency medical coverage across eastern Antigua.

In a landmark upgrade to pre-hospital emergency medical services across Antigua and Barbuda, the nation’s first ambulance fitted with a permanent built-in oxygen system has been officially commissioned and deployed to Glanvilles Polyclinic, according to Health Minister Sir Molwyn Joseph.

Speaking at the formal handover ceremony for the new vehicle, Joseph emphasized that the introduction of this specialized ambulance represents a transformative leap forward in the country’s emergency care infrastructure. He repeatedly stressed the milestone, noting it is the first public ambulance in the nation to include the integrated oxygen feature that will dramatically improve on-site and in-transit care for critical patients.

Beyond its innovative oxygen system, the new ambulance is designed to accommodate a wider range of cutting-edge medical equipment. A key addition is a connected heart monitor that can transmit real-time patient vital data to receiving hospital clinical teams before the ambulance even arrives at the facility. This advance allows emergency department physicians to prepare fully for a patient’s arrival, eliminating critical delays in initiating targeted treatment and streamlining the entire emergency response chain, Joseph explained.

The decision to station the new ambulance at Glanvilles Polyclinic addresses a longstanding gap in healthcare access for communities along the nation’s Eastern Corridor. For years, emergency calls in this region required ambulances to travel all the way from the capital city of St. John’s, resulting in dangerous, unacceptable delays that put local residents at disproportionate risk during life-threatening emergencies. With the dedicated ambulance now based locally, Joseph projected that response times will fall sharply, a change that can mean the difference between life and death for patients in crisis. “Every minute counts. Every second counts when you’re responding to an emergency,” he noted.

Joseph credited Prime Minister Gaston Browne for prioritizing the investment by allocating the necessary funding to acquire the ambulance, even in the lead-up to a national election. He emphasized that the Ministry of Health has not paused its core work to expand and improve healthcare access, framing the deployment as a reflection of the government’s commitment to closing long-standing gaps in underserved communities. “To delay is to leave the people of these parts at greater risk,” he said, adding that the deployment is just the first step in a broader national initiative to modernize and expand emergency medical services across the entire country, starting with areas that have historically been underserved.

The new deployment also comes alongside an upcoming operational restructuring at the Glanvilles facility that will further improve services. Services that have temporarily been hosted at Glanvilles are set to transition back to the All Saints medical facility, a shift that is almost complete. Once the transition is finalized, the Glanvilles Polyclinic will gain significant additional space, which will improve working conditions for clinical staff and expand capacity to serve patients more effectively.

Following the formal handover ceremony, the ambulance entered immediate active service, bringing faster, more advanced emergency care to residents of Glanvilles, Willikies, and all surrounding communities across the Eastern Corridor.

Antigua & Barbuda’s leading public healthcare facility, the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre (SLBMC), has formally introduced Project Bloom, an ambitious public education and community outreach campaign designed to shift maternal health outcomes across the twin-island nation. The initiative targets a growing public health challenge: a persistently high rate of pregnant women who delay routine prenatal care until late in their pregnancy, or forego professional care entirely until they enter labor.

Project Bloom was developed to counter this trend through accessible, stigma-free messaging and actionable guidance that empowers expectant mothers to prioritize care from the earliest stages of pregnancy. At its core, the campaign centers on three straightforward, life-affirming principles: begin prenatal monitoring as soon as possible, leverage local community clinics and primary care providers for routine check-ups, and transition to hospital-based care for high-risk pregnancies and labor. A key, inclusive pillar of the campaign stresses that it is never too late to seek care, working to dismantle the shame that often keeps women from seeking support at any point during their pregnancy.

Dr. Raymond Mansoor, Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at SLBMC, emphasized the transformative impact of early intervention in maternal health. “Early prenatal care is one of the most powerful protective tools we have to safeguard the well-being of both parent and child,” Mansoor explained. “We regularly treat patients who come to us late with preventable, manageable conditions such as gestational hypertension and syphilis—complications that can be mitigated or avoided entirely if caught early. Through Project Bloom, our goal is to help every expectant mother understand that early care lets us act early, laying the groundwork for safer pregnancies and healthier long-term outcomes.”

Beyond clinical guidance, the campaign recognizes that access to consistent care depends on more than just service availability. Many pregnant women face unaddressed social, emotional and financial barriers that prevent them from seeking care early, and Project Bloom was designed to meet those needs with holistic, patient-centered support.

Ann-Marie Browne-Isaac, SLBMC’s Departmental Nurse Manager for Maternity and the facility’s antenatal outpatient clinic, highlighted the on-the-ground difference early care makes for local families. “We see every single day how early intervention changes outcomes for mothers and babies,” Browne-Isaac said. “Our message is clear: start care early with your local community clinic or primary care provider. Most families come to this journey excited and hopeful, and our job is to help keep that positive experience going. Early care lets us monitor for risks, address concerns quickly, and support safer pregnancies, smoother deliveries, and the best possible outcomes for every family.”

Chanier Moore, a social worker on SLBMC’s maternal health team, added that the campaign aims to wrap around women facing non-medical barriers to care. “A lot of the time, the hurdles aren’t clinical—they’re emotional stress, financial strain, or just not knowing how to navigate the healthcare system to get the care you need,” Moore noted. “We want every pregnant woman to know they don’t have to go through this alone. There is tailored support available, and even that first small step to reach out can make a world of difference for you and your baby.”

By merging evidence-based health education, targeted community outreach, and compassionate, patient-first messaging, Project Bloom seeks to drive meaningful increases in early prenatal care engagement, reduce preventable maternal and infant complications, and ensure that more families across Antigua & Barbuda get the life-saving care they need when it matters most.

SLBMC is urging all expectant mothers and their support systems to reach out to local community clinics or their regular healthcare provider to begin prenatal care as early as possible. For additional information about Project Bloom, available antenatal services, or upcoming maternal health education classes, interested parties can contact the SLBMC Outpatient Clinic at 484-2727.