Good afternoon.

Today, I am pleased to provide highlights of the 2022/2023 Budget Allocation for the Ministry of Health.

The Ministry comprises four departments: the Ministry of Health Headquarters, which includes the Office of the Chief Medical Officer, the Department of Health, the Health Insurance Department and the hospitals. The Ministry of Health’s vision is to ensure healthy people in healthy communities.

The budget of one hundred and ninety-four million five hundred thousand and twelve dollars ($194,500,012) for the 2022/23 financial year includes one hundred and forty-seven million two hundred and fifty-one thousand, one hundred and sixty-three dollars ($147,251,163) in funding for King Edward Memorial Hospital and Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute.

The Ministry of Health’s estimated revenue for 2022/23 is twenty-five million seven hundred thousand dollars ($25,700,000), the bulk of which will be accounted for by the travel authorization fees.

The Government’s support for a healthier Bermuda is reflected in its commitment to universal health coverage. For this, there is an allocation in the Ministry’s Headquarters budget in the amount of $750,000 for consultants and an allocation in the Department of Health’s budget of $323,456 for health promotion resources. The Ministry has an initial high-level-year roadmap to strengthen our health system and achieve universal health coverage. The recently released Bermuda Health Strategy 2022-2027 provides the strategic principles the Ministry will follow in executing this key Throne Speech initiative.

The Ministry of Health will focus on the Year 1 priorities of the roadmap in the upcoming year. This will begin with establishing the transitional governance structure needed for our health system’s transformation, including setting up new working groups for stewardship and collaboration. A key element of this is the Project Management Office, which is necessary to drive change.

This year, the Ministry will be working with our partners along several concurrent work streams.

We will develop and pilot integrated essential care pathways, working with stakeholders to determine which patient journeys to pilot. The Ministry will also establish the necessary baseline of our current health condition, which means bringing our health accounts up to date and determining our population's health needs. In parallel, we can begin identifying and prioritising efficiencies and cost-saving projects across the health system.

Part of ensuring future efficiencies is having a national digital health strategy to fully take advantage of technology and create options for consolidating the Government health plans.

This is an island-wide effort to create a more efficient and value-driven health system where our residents enjoy better health outcomes. It starts with each of us doing what we can to live a healthier life. Living healthier lives reduces the burden on Bermuda’s health system and produces economic benefits.

In the upcoming financial year, the Ministry of Health will also continue to receive a budget allocation for the COVID-19 pandemic response in the amount of $7,767,803, which will also support the operation of the Bermuda Molecular Diagnostic and Research Laboratory (MDL).

From 1 April, MDL will come within the fold of the Department of Health, which already operates the Government’s Central Laboratory. The pandemic is not yet over, but changes to our border policies, largely enabled by good vaccination rates both in Bermuda and in our gateway cities, should decrease the pressure on the island’s health system, and allow for efficiencies in the management of our response. These anticipated efficiencies are reflected in the reduced budget for the pandemic response.

The Ministry of Health has a busy year ahead, with the start of health system transformation at its core. We look forward to collaborating with the wider Bermuda community to make this a success.

Thank you.