Anguillian Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon, Dr. Ellis Lorenzo Webster, has led a team of various medical and health specialists to Anguilla for the second time.
The physicians provided services to scores of patients, at the Vivien Vanterpool Primary School, over the weekend of March 1 and 2. Prescriptions were written for many of the patients for follow-up arrangements at Dr. Ellis Webster’s Anguilla office at the Mason Mall on the Stoney Ground Road. The visiting medical team also included another Anguillian physician, Dr. Paul Webster.
A number of the school’s classrooms were transformed in clinic-like settings, thus creating a comfortable working atmosphere for the doctors and privacy for the patients. The majority of the doctors were on the island to begin their voluntary service on Friday, March 1, and were joined the following day by additional medical personnel.
Dr. Eilis Wester spoke to The Anguillian newspaper about the team’s work on the island. “I want to see all Anguillians healthy,” he replied, when asked what motivated him to bring the medical team to the island. He continued: “Back in 1979, when I finished sixth form in Anguilla, I got a scholarship from the Anguilla Government to go to Trinidad to study dental therapy. I was there for two years and came back home to work. Later, I went off again and became an Ear, Nose and Throat Physician. I always felt that I wanted to give back to Anguilla for taking care of me. When I came back I saw that we lacked specialty care here in Anguilla and I wanted to make sure that this was a possibility. So with the help of my cousin, Dr. Paul Webster, who is Anaesthesia and Pain Management, we put this visit together so that we can give back something to Anguilla for being good to us, and to help to take care of our people.”
Asked what were some of the specialties among the team of physicians, Dr. Webster replied: “Today, we have orthopaedic surgery, endocrinology (a doctor who takes care of thyroid problems, diabetes and certain brain tumours). A dermatologist is coming later today and will be here tomorrow. We have paediatrics, pain management, vascular surgery – and we also have a trauma surgeon who also does urology.”
About the cost of travel and accommodation, Dr. Webster explained: “It is costly but the good thing is that the doctors have paid for their own flights and accommodations, and we are taking care of the hospitality things on the ground like transportation, food, etc. The thing about it is that the doctors are committed, and have sacrificed their time away from their offices and where they could be making money. But they are paying their own way to help us here in Anguilla. That is something commendable because the medical community is a close-knit one.
“If you ask Paul, he will also tell you that. We work with the doctors sometimes when they need help. We go in the Operation Room and help them if they have a patient that is difficult and they need our services and vice versa. So we get to know each other and when I told them I need their help in Anguilla, because there is a need for specialty care, and there are people who cannot afford to go abroad, they are willing to jump the cause and help us.”
Questioned as to how the Health Authority of Anguilla responded to the work of the medical team on the island, Dr. Webster replied: “The persons I have spoken to have been very supportive in terms of knowing that this is a deficiency we have. There are concerns about the costs to bring in specialists, find offices for them to work in, and to provide equipment for them to work with. The Health Authority has been supportive, has always been helpful and has offered what it can to us. I have worked at the Princess Alexandra Hospital doing ear, nose and throat surgery and consultations. The Ministry of Health has also been helpful in terms of giving us the necessary permissions to be here.
“The one thing I have found is that we have not accepted healthcare in Anguilla as a national crisis. I think it is more so as our older people are getting these chronic non-communicable diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes needing dialysis. I feel that we have to look at this as something that is essential to the care and wellbeing of our people. Once we take that as a priority, then I think that the monies we spend can be used appropriately so that we can get the necessary things done. Based on that, I think it is just a matter of educating our politicians, permanent secretaries, those who are in the policy-making business and our people in general. They should know that if this is seen as a national crisis, then we can make it happen. Anguillians are a very resilient people. We saw that after Hurricane Irma when we bounced right back, became unified that it was a country-wide issue, and this is something that healthcare has to be seen as.”
Dr. Webster who has his main practice in Palm Beach, Florida, added: “I apologise that we could not do this every year as sometimes the logistics don’t allow it – and then Hurricane Irma came and put a damper on the work and getting access to Anguilla and accommodation, but now we are back. Members of the public have been very supportive and were prepared this time with their complaints, medical records and x-rays to facilitate the doctors in taking care of them. It means the public has been listening, waiting and now very supportive.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Paul Webster, who is currently practising interventional pain management in Orlando, Florida, since 1994, regretted it was not possible for him to have been in Anguilla during the team’s first visit in January 2015. “Unfortunately, I missed out on that one so I made it my duty to be here this time,” he commented. “It is an excellent team. The quality of these professionals is top-notched and they are ready and willing to help everybody with the specialties they need.”
