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Working for one of the hospitals, I felt compelled to respond. The simple reality of living in a small, isolated community is that we can never have a facility (or facilities) that can deal with every situation. I do agree that theft by those that we entrust with our facilities is heinous. However, even if every penny was spent correctly, it would not be cost-effective to provide services for which we have limited need. That's the reality we have to be willing to face when living on an island. It would be wondeful to have a top notch burn center, decompression chamber, children's hospital, cancer center, cardiac center, etc. all on one island, but with a smaller population volume, it is even more critical that supply match demand for services. It would be wonderful to have it all, but unrealistic (unfortunately). Yes, our health care could be better, but there will always be a need to seek services not found on the island due to our population size and location. It is similar to comparing our island to a small State-side town vs. a larger city. You will find more services in the larger city due to there being a greater demand for a greater variety of health care services and specialists. In regards to MASA, I have always wondered why it's not pronounced with a long "a" sound given the word "air" has the same. Either way you slice it, if you live on a small island anywhere in the world (even the best run island with NO corruption) it's a great comfort to know that you can get to the care you need that can't be found in your back yard. Side note...if people simply changed the pronounciation to MASA (long "a"), then it would catch on...even by the owners of the company (who should have had the foresight to think about that in the first place - given the skin color of the majority).

Alice, you are right - in a small society, supply does meet demand. So, it is true that there will always be some services that must be procured in a larger market. However, basic needs and the common things that affect a majority Black market should be readily available. Moreover, the Chair of the CBC Health braintrust should be able to guide the hospital on what those care items should be - don't you think? With the scandal of the hospital, how do we build the community's trust? And if the community doesn't trust the hospital how do we expect them to seek treatment? And if they won't seek treatment from our hospitals, what happens if they cannot afford to go elsewhere? These are the considerations that demand nothing less than the highest ethical standards. And, with regards to MASA: that's crazy! You would think they would analyze that and see the meaning. So, it makes you wonder: either they didn't care about the implications or they didn't care to understand the sensitivities of the community...or, they knew the community would be oblivious to that analogy - as we have! Thank you to everyone for Answering the Call: Virgin Islands for the Virgin Islanders...those at home and those abroad!

Thanks for that information. SkyMed is a much better sounding name. I don't know about the service. The major point is that the people must resort to leaving the Territory for quality medical care. Either way it's abominable.