New NHI BMA Clinic Opened in Belama

On Thursday night, the Belize Medical Associates team and the Ministry of Health celebrated the grand opening of the brand-new BMA N.H.I. Clinic in Belama Phase Two. This primary care clinic offers a wide range of services, from treating everyday ailments like colds and flu to addressing more complex health concerns. The clinic has been serving patients since it opened its doors in December and was officially inaugurated one month later. News Five’s Britney Gordon was at the ceremony to bring us more details about this exciting new healthcare facility.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Belize’s National Health Insurance is broadening its reach with the opening of a brand-new health facility in Belama Phase Two. The Belize Medical Associates N.H.I. Clinic has been offering primary care to patients since it opened in December. On Thursday, an official ceremony was held to welcome the clinic to the community. Health and Wellness Minister Kevin Bernard shared more about this exciting new endeavor.

 

Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health & Wellness

“NHI is a service that we’re providing primary care services to our population. And as you know, we are, we are rolling out N.H.I. in the other parts of the country and here in the northern part of Belize district in the Belize city area especially where BMA was able to win the tender. It’s where we can make access to more quality health care. While we have our public facilities, we also need to ensure that citizens have access to other services within the private sector. And this is how the partnership is built.”

 

The clinic, on Albert Hoy Avenue in Belama Phase Two, is a testament to the strong partnership between the National Health Insurance (NHI) and Belize Medical Associates (BMA). Dr. Victor Rosado, the chairman of BMA’s board, proudly shared that this clinic is the fruit of their well-established collaboration.

 

Dr. Victor Rosado, Chairman, Board of Directors, B.M.A.

“Belize Medical Associates has been with N.H.I. from its inception in 2001 when it was N.H.I., what we call the South Side City Pilot Project. And Belize Medical Associates started at that time with a clinic on Regent Street and fast forward twenty-four years, when they announced that they would have  N.H.I. on the north side of the city, we tendered last year. We won the tender and we started building this clinic. And in December of last year, we opened our doors. And today is just the official opening of the Belize Medical Associates N.H.I. Belama Clinic”.

 

The clinic boasts a dedicated team of about ten professionals, including doctors, nurses, and specialists, all ready to provide top-notch care.  According to Bernard, the clinic is ready to tackle common health issues and well as more complex services.

 

Kevin Bernard

“This is a primary care facility, so you will have when it comes to prenatal services, you have I mean normal common health issues, cough and cold is just the basic thing it will talk about. But there is also gynecology services, there is I understand that there is no In fact, you will see that they are even offering public health services. Well, it may not be part of the N.H.I. primary care contract, but they are making it available to their customers who come here. And so as you know, primary care is It can cover many other things, but the, the aspect of services ultrasound services, diagnostic services bloo, chemistry services are also offered here.”

 

The clinic is ready to offer services for up to twelve thousand participants in that area of Belize City and has already seen two thousand five hundred registrations in just two months.

 

Dr. Victor Rosado

“To register for N.H.I., all you need is a Belize social security card. That is all you need. Once you have a social security card and address, we can register you. Let’s say you live in Orange Walk. Let’s say you live in Cayo, but you work in Belize City. Then you can register with us because this is where you will spend most of your time. So you don’t necessarily have to live in Belama or in Belize City for all intents and purposes. So remember the goal here is for national rollout. So there will be N.H.I. this year in the entire country of Belize.”

 

Bernard stressed the importance of having more affordable healthcare providers throughout the country, so that every Belizean can access top-notch health services no matter where they live.

 

Kevin Bernard

“In layman terms, I would say it just costs a penny for you to access quality healthcare. Can you imagine a pregnant woman, as I said, can access, go to N.H.I., get his, get his her ultrasound and pay probably a fraction of that, which is about, sometimes in some cases, ten dollars, seven dollars, . Where would you have heard that that service would have been accessible before at that rate? While government is paying the service provider,  through now the support from the Belize Boledo funds, we are now injecting money to help finance N.H.I. services, along with other funds that government, through the Ministry of Health, provides to N.H.I..”

Britney Gordon for News Five.