JNF emergency department goes paperless, but cost of digital health system still undisclosed
The Ministry of Health says the A&E Department at JNF General Hospital is now fully digital, with laboratory and radiology next, though no price or timetable has been published for the system.
BASSETERRE, St Kitts. The Accident and Emergency Department at the Joseph N France General Hospital has been fully digitised under the National Digital Health Information System, the Ministry of Health announced on 6 November.
The ministry described the change as a milestone that would improve efficiency, clinical decisions and the handling of patient records. It said the Laboratory and Radiology Departments would be the next to move onto the system, but gave no dates for either.
Prime Minister and Minister of Health Dr Terrance Drew raised the development at his November press roundtable and said he would lead ministers and senior officials on a tour of the department.
Contract value not published
The system is being built by the St Kitts National Robotics Association, whose founder and chairman, Dr Ricardo Neil, was credited by the ministry with leading the work. According to a government statement in August, the contract was signed in May 2026 between the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission and the association, covering design, development, testing and implementation.
Neither the August statement nor this week's announcement disclosed what the contract is worth, how it was awarded or when the full rollout will be finished.
Officials have said the platform is meant to cover electronic health records, billing, pharmacy, stores, laboratory and X-ray records, linking JNF's emergency, inpatient and outpatient services with government clinics and health facilities on Nevis. Dr Jenson Morton, Director of Health Projects and Strategic Initiatives, said in August: "This is an all-encompassing system." The Ministry of Education supplied 50 laptops and 20 tablets for the first phase.
The ministry's announcement did not include any figures on waiting times or patient throughput at A&E since the system went live, and did not say how patient data on the network is being protected.
