Grenada signs agreement with Nigeria for healthcare specialists to work on island

Grenada Health Minister Philip Telesford has announced that Grenada has entered into an agreement with the Government of Nigeria to bring nine healthcare specialists to bolster the country’s public health system.

Speaking during a news conference on May 14, Telesford said the move is part of a broader strategy to address staff shortages and improve the quality of healthcare services across the island. “We have signed an agreement with the Nigerian government for some professionals, some specialists to come into our system. It is nine or so specialists,” he confirmed.

Telesford noted that the government is actively forging strategic partnerships with global allies to supplement local healthcare capacity. “We recognise that we do not and will not have all of the resources here locally, so we definitely have to hire in resources that we do not have,” he explained. He added that while international recruitment remains important, the government is also working to prepare Grenadians to fill vacancies within the sector.

Looking ahead, the health minister highlighted the economic and professional opportunities expected to emerge from the development of a proposed climate-smart resilience medical complex. The facility, envisioned as a cutting-edge “medical city,” is designed to position Grenada as a premier healthcare destination in the Americas.

Telesford encouraged young Grenadians to prepare themselves to benefit from the new jobs and services the complex will generate, both directly in healthcare and across related sectors. “This medical city is going to bring about serious economic benefits for the population, not just in medicine, but there are a number of peripheral services that are going to happen,” he said. “The economy is going to be buoyed out of that investment.”