The Tribune

The Eleuthera Medical Centre says its membership has grown to 700 residents in the less than two years since its founding due to the addition of new services.

Founded in partnership with the non-profit group, Eleuthera Community Healthcare initiative, the Centre - located near Governor's Harbour - has added x-ray capability and upcoming dental care to support existing services that include ultrasounds, chiropractic care, general practice, pediatric, obstetrics and gynecology, health coaching, onsite stat laboratories and emergency treatment.

"The response with which we have been met, and the welcome we have received, has been beyond anything we imagined but speaks to the need for reliable, sophisticated health and wellness care, especially on a Family Island where, in most cases, medical services are not as readily available as they would be in the capital," said Dr Arlington Lightbourne, whose vision inspired the community-owned medical centre's creation.

Dr Lightbourne, who founded the Bahamas Wellness Health System, which also operates the Wellness Clinic on Collins Avenue near Doctor's Hospital in Nassau, said adding x-ray capability was critical.

"This was a major investment on the part of the community-owned clinic, and one that was urgently needed," he said. "Every time we had to tell someone they had to fly to Nassau for an x-ray because they might have a fracture, it was heartbreaking.

"The cost, the pain of having to fly when you are already injured, and the time between the injury and the setting of a bone if there is a fracture was an unbearable situation to put people through." Besides the $50,000-plus invested in equipment and software, Eleuthera Medical Centre contracted with an experienced board-certified radiologist and an x-ray technician for support.

"We have experienced a number of firsts for Family Island medical services in a very short period of time, and I have to thank the entire community that has supported us and our hard-working staff," said Dr Lightbourn.

He credited community volunteers, including the Cancer Society, which helped to enlist members for a venture that has become a gathering place for lectures on lifestyle, diet and exercise. This is part of a plan to set a new standard for Family Island medical care without burdening the public purse.

Eleuthera Medical Clinic has also expanded its roster of rotating physicians and medical professionals. What started out in August 2018 with one doctor and an occasional substitute is now up to 12 physicians including a psychiatrist, a chiropractor, urologist and childhood specialist.

Dental services are scheduled to start in January in a nearby location, making it the only full-time private dental practice in Eleuthera. The centre is also in the process of becoming one of the few National Health Insurance (NHI) approved laboratories in The Bahamas.

The clinic's business plan combines revenue from patients using health insurance or self-paying along with the membership-based provision of services. Members pay $40 per month, entitling them to unlimited visits, labs and an annual physical. The clinic's emergency room is open on a seven-day, 24-hour basis as needed.

"Heart attacks, high blood pressure, cancer are all preventable diseases that we can wipe out just by the choices we make, and I vow to do my part to persuade people that they can make the right choices and lead full, healthy lives," said Dr Lightbourne.

"If I can do that on a daily basis through a clinic in Eleuthera filling a need, and with the coaches and other staff in Nassau, and we can make a difference, bit by bit, in the health of our Bahamian people, we will have accomplished God's work."