Where are our Doctors?

Walk into almost any public health facility in St. Vincent and the Grenadines today, and you will encounter Cuban doctors and nurses working tirelessly to meet the needs of our people. For decades, Cuban medical professionals have been a pillar of our healthcare system, providing care in underserved communities, responding during national crises, and filling gaps that might otherwise leave many Vincentians without access to basic medical services. Their contribution deserves recognition and respect.

Yet, an uncomfortable but necessary question remains: Where are our Vincentian doctors?

This is not a question rooted in blame, nor is it an attempt to diminish the vital role Cuban healthcare workers play in our health system. Rather, it is a call for honest national reflection.

In December 2025, the last Cuban medical professionals departed Antigua and Barbuda, bringing an end to a partnership that Prime Minister Gaston Browne had described as “fundamental” to his country’s healthcare system just nine months earlier. That development raises an urgent question for us in St. Vincent and the Grenadines: What would we do if this became our fate?

What is our contingency plan?

Many Vincentian doctors are trained abroad in Cuba, others in the United Kingdom, the United States, or elsewhere in the Caribbean. Yet too few return home, and even fewer remain long-term within the public health system.

Why? The reasons are neither mysterious nor new. Commonly cited factors include:

• Uncompetitive remuneration when compared to regional and international markets.
• Poor working conditions, including understaffing, limited resources, and professional burnout
• Limited opportunities for specialization and career advancement.
• Bureaucratic barriers to employment and credential recognition.
• A lack of structured reintegration and professional support for returning doctors.

For young doctors burdened by student debt and seeking meaningful professional growth, remaining overseas often feels less like a choice and more like a necessity.

We often describe this issue as “brain drain,” but that framing alone is insufficient. People do not simply leave; systems push them away. When healthcare professionals feel undervalued, overworked, and unsupported, migration becomes a rational response rather than a personal failing.

At the same time, the state continues to rely heavily on Cuban medical brigades to fill essential roles. While this arrangement has undoubtedly benefited the country in the short term, it risks masking deeper structural weaknesses in workforce planning, retention strategies, and human resource development within our health sector. And we must ask another difficult question: If external pressures, such as visa restrictions or geopolitical tensions force an end to our relationship with Cuba, what happens then?

So again, I ask: Where are our doctors?

Until we confront the conditions that drive our medical professionals away, the answer will remain deeply uncomfortable. The Cuban doctors caring for our people today are not the problem; they are part of the solution. But the absence of Vincentian doctors in our hospitals and clinics is a warning signal, one we can no longer afford to ignore.

The health of a nation depends not only on who shows up in times of need, but on how well it values, supports, and retains its own.

Shimano Bailey