by Eulana Weekes
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): After years of promises, renal patients residing in Nevis are waiting for access to a basic and life-sustaining medical service, dialysis, on the island.
The delay has caused hardship for individuals suffering from kidney disease, as they continually brave the seas to St. Kitts for treatment and then travel back to Nevis, and sometimes even encounter difficulties on their journey back home.
Dr Janice Daniel-Hodge, the Nevis Reformation Party leader, questioned the government’s apparent lack of coordination in addressing the ongoing challenges faced by dialysis patients in Nevis. She also criticised both Premier Mark Brantley and the Prime Minister, Dr Terrance Drew, for failing to devise a workable plan to provide dialysis on the island.
“But you know what? It pains me even more when I heard the Prime Minister say, ‘In St. Kitts, we have dialysis machines. We have backup dialysis for the backup. Backup upon backup upon backup.’ I don’t know if you all remember hearing him say that, and you want to tell me that the Prime Minister and the Premier could sit down and cannot say, well, let me take one of these dialysis machines over to Nevis? That never came to their mind? So, we know that we are in problems in Nevis because nobody is helping the other. We cannot continue like this, my people.”
Additionally, speaking at NRP Convention 2025, Daniel-Hodge lambasted the Nevis Island Administration for allowing dialysis machines, purchased through significant investment, to deteriorate before even being put to use.
“We heard them speak about the need to build this fancy hospital. Where are we now? It pains me when we know how much has been done. What NRP would have done in terms of bringing dialysis equipment here? What the Taiwanese ambassador would have done in terms of providing funding for dialysis equipment? Yet there is no dialysis equipment on Nevis. How can you, as a leader, know that your people need treatment? You know, there are times when the water is rough and the boats don’t travel, and you allow those machines to rot. Don’t care.”
The diagnostic wing at the Alexandra Hospital has remained incomplete for more than 8 years, despite the Nevis Island Administration’s plan to utilise the space to house specialised services, such as dialysis.
While such a critical piece of infrastructure remains unfinished, expensive equipment left to decay, and some citizens suffer from kidney disease, some people continue to question the government’s priorities for healthcare, citing mismanagement and lack of accountability.
