Officials Say Ghanaian Nurses Will Not Replace Local Workers

Officials Say Ghanaian Nurses Will Not Replace Local Workers

Government and health officials say nurses recruited from Ghana will not replace local healthcare workers, stressing that the initiative is a temporary stabilization measure aimed at easing shortages while local training capacity continues to expand.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment Stacy Gregg-Paige said the recruitment was carried out to support existing staff and protect patient care, not to displace Antiguan workers.

“This initiative does not replace or displace local health care workers,” Gregg-Paige said. “It is a targeted stabilization measure designed to reduce excessive overtime, support existing staff, and improve continuity and quality of care.”

Gregg-Paige said local recruitment, training and retention efforts are continuing alongside the overseas recruitment, and that professional and regulatory standards were not compromised at any stage of the process.

Health Minister Sir Molwyn Joseph said the long-term strategy is to rely increasingly on locally trained nurses as output from the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus increases.

“If they’re on contract, when their contract comes to an end and we have Antiguans who are trained that can fill those positions, those contracts with the non-Antiguans will not be renewed,” Joseph said.

He said Antigua and Barbuda is now in a stronger position than in previous years because local nurse training is expanding.

“Fortunately for us, now we’ve never had this before — we have the university that is producing trained nurses,” Joseph said.

Joseph said the Ghanaian nurses are expected to serve on fixed-term contracts while local capacity grows.

“Between 2026 and 2029, which is the duration of the Ghanaian contract — three years — we anticipate about 120 Antiguans will be graduating from the University of the West Indies,” he said.

However, Joseph acknowledged that migration trends mean some flexibility will still be required.

“We cannot stop them from going abroad,” he said. “So there has to be some flexibility in that system.”

Joseph said the government’s priority is to ensure that the country never again faces severe staffing shortages in its health system.

“At no time should we go back into the past where we do not have enough nurses in order to satisfy the demand for care in Antigua and Barbuda,” he said.

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