Healthcare delivery is expanding within Saint Lucia’s prison system, as the Bordelais Correctional Facility introduces a dedicated in-house medical unit under the country’s Universal Health Coverage programme.
Officials say the development will improve access to care for inmates and staff, while reducing pressure on public hospitals in the south of the island.
Health Minister Moses Jn Baptiste said the move is grounded in both legal obligation and practical necessity.
“This will allow us first to ensure compliance to the Correctional Services Act. The legislation seeks to ensure that medical services are provided to the inmates at the Bordelais Correctional Facility.”
He added that the initiative is also intended to reduce congestion at major healthcare institutions.
“Number two, we want to ease the burden on the St Jude Hospital and also the Millennium Heights Medical Complex, meaning the Owen King Hospital, at the ER, the emergency, and outpatient clinics.”
According to the minister, the new unit will be integrated into the national digital health framework.
“The Health Management Information System will connect to our primary care systems, so we can follow patients from the Bordelais Correctional Facility.”
Specialist services are already being delivered on a structured schedule.
“Internal medicine, every first Thursday. That we started about a year and a half ago, and this will be strengthened. Dermatology, every second Friday. We started in December of last year, and we are going to strengthen this. Ophthalmology, every fourth Tuesday.”
While routine and specialist consultations will now take place on site, the minister clarified that serious cases will still be referred externally. “If there are serious and complicated cases, serious cases for surgery for example, those cases will go to the hospitals.”
The expanded services are expected to improve efficiency and safety by reducing the need to transport inmates for routine care, a process that can place additional strain on security and healthcare personnel.
“We are pleased to report that we have increased the services at the Bordelais Correctional Facility, and we are sure that this will help to improve not only access to health services by the inmates but also a number of complications in relation to human resources,” Baptiste stated.
Officials say the initiative represents another step in extending Universal Health Coverage across all sectors of society, reinforcing the principle that access to timely and appropriate healthcare applies to every individual, including those behind prison walls.