About Cathy Stovell

Help shape the future of your hospital services – We want to hear from you!

Thursday 3 July 2025: Bermuda Hospitals Board is creating a new Vision 2030 Strategic Plan and is asking the community to provide their thoughts and feedback in a short, online survey.

The survey can be accessed at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BHB2030.  The deadline is 31 August 2025.

CEO & President Scott Pearman comments: “We’re asking you to take a few minutes to complete a short, anonymous survey. Your feedback will help us better understand what matters most to the people we serve and how we can improve the way we deliver care over the next few years. This feedback will be used along with internal surveys and groups, reviews of data and of our existing strategy. We know there are challenges, but we are excited about what the future could bring and look forward to sharing more as the strategy is developed.

“There is an opportunity for members of the community to also volunteer to be part of in-person focus groups. Anyone interested can email OD@bhb.bm with their full name, and the email or phone number that they would like to be contacted with.

“However you’d like to participate, thank you for helping us build a better future for healthcare in Bermuda!”

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3 July 2025 Home Page, News

Main entrance to KEMH Emergency Department re-opened

Wednesday 18 June 2025: Bermuda Hospitals Board advises the public that the main entrance to the Emergency Department at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) has re-opened. A temporary entrance was in place while maintenance to the entry doors was underway. The temporary entrance is now closed.

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18 June 2025 Home Page, News

KEMH Emergency Department entrance moving temporarily

Friday 13 June 2025: Bermuda Hospitals Board advises the public that starting Tuesday 17 to Friday 20 June, a clearly signposted temporary entrance should be used to access the Emergency Department of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.  It will be located near the main entrance of the Acute Care Wing as pictured.

The main entrance to the Emergency Department will close Tuesday 17 to Friday 20 June to allow maintenance of its entrance doors.

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13 June 2025 News

Public Advisory: Changing your primary care physician

Thursday 5 June 2025: Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) wishes to make clear the correct procedure for patients to follow in the event they wish to change their primary care doctor on record with BHB. An erroneous message from a local physician was sent out that seems to be causing concern.

  • If your primary care physician has not changed since your last visit to a BHB facility, you do not need to contact BHB as the information will not be changed.
  • You will also be asked to confirm or update your primary care physician details when you access any BHB service. You can make any changes at this time.
  • If you wish to update your medical record at BHB before any potential visit, you can email: HIMS_Dept@bhb.bm.

BHB has received a high number of patient contacts via an incorrect email address regarding this matter. The patients are following information sent by their physician office that “the hospital has mistakenly listed” a particular physician for “several patients” who “have expressed their preference to continue their care” under a different provider.

The above statement is entirely incorrect and such a suggestion is not only not in keeping with BHB’s standards and protocols but also is not in keeping with data protection and privacy requirements. BHB does not change a patient’s primary care physician record unless instructed to do so by the patient. We have asked the physician office that sent out the erroneous statement to issue a corrective statement to their patients.

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5 June 2025 Home Page, News

BHB Public Advisory: KEMH road resurfacing works 3-12 May 2025

Monday 28 April 2025: Road resurfacing works along the entrance to the Acute Care Wing (ACW) of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) will impact both pedestrian and vehicular traffic using the main entrance road to the ACW. Please use caution as both the roadway and the pedestrian sidewalk will be narrowed to facilitate the works.

Disruption for these works will start on Saturday 3 May and last until Monday 12 May 2025.

Designated parking for clergy, People’s ACW (pharmacy), taxis and 4 handicap bays will not be available from Saturday 3 – Monday 12 May. We request that all visitors use the main visitor parking lot.

Bermuda Hospitals Board apologise for any disruption this may cause and appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

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28 April 2025 News

BHB Public Advisory: No through traffic at KEMH between point Finger and Berry Hill roads on Saturday

Thursday 10 April 2025: Bermuda Hospitals Board advises the public that there will be no through traffic on the campus of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) between Point Finger Road and Berry Hill Road on Saturday 12 April from 8am to 1pm.

Vehicles and pedestrians will be able to access the Emergency Department, the main Acute Care Wing entrance and the Acute Care Wing visitor parking lot from Point Finger Road.

The General Wing visitor parking lot will be accessible from Berry Hill Road.

To ensure safety, please adhere to all signage, barricades and directions of personnel at the site.

The road closure is to facilitate a crane lift of a fuel tank.

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10 April 2025 News

BHB Public Advisory: KEMH through road closure on Saturday 5 April

Wednesday 2 April 2025: Bermuda Hospitals Board advises the public that there will be no through traffic on the campus of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) between Point Finger Road and Berry Hill Road on Saturday 5 April from 7:30am to 3pm.

Vehicles and pedestrians will be able to access the Emergency Department, the main Acute Care Wing entrance and the Acute Care Wing visitor parking lot from Point Finger Road.

The General Wing visitor parking lot will be accessible from Berry Hill Road.

To ensure safety, please adhere to all signage, barricades and directions of personnel at the site.

The road closure is to facilitate a crane lift of equipment to the roof of the Acute Care Wing.

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2 April 2025 News

KEMH at the forefront of hip replacement surgery

Monday 17 February 2025: Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) is part of a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clinical study to bring a new orthopaedic implant to the United States. The Polymotion Hip Resurfacing (PHRTM) is a new hip replacement device that will be used in men and women under age 65 as a part of the clinical study. In time, Polymotion may join its predecessor, the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHRTM), as a globally available hip resurfacing device.

Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Ronan Treacy (pictured left) is a co-inventor of Polymotion. He also designed the Birmingham implant in the late 1990s. He’s been a regular visiting surgeon in Bermuda for over 25 years and has performed hundreds of Birmingham Hip Resurfacing procedures on local residents at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH).

BHB Director of Orthopaedics Dr William Peckett has worked with Dr Treacy for over 20 years and has been trained to implant both the Birmingham and the Polymotion devices.

Dr Treacy and Dr Peckett did the first hip replacement surgeries using the Polymotion implant at KEMH in January as part of the Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) study for the FDA.

Dr Treacy said: “I believe we are the first overseas centre ever to have taken part in such a study. We are privileged to be in the company of fantastic centres such as NYU, New York; RUSH University Medical Center in Chicago and some of the biggest names in hip surgery in the world.”

“In total, the team performed the surgery on four patients. Each went home on the day of surgery. All are recovering well.”

Most patients who undergo hip replacement surgery at KEMH are discharged home the same day.

Dr Treacy said: “The patients actually prefer to go home and be in their own bed in their first night. The level of pain control isn’t really an issue. Patients are very mobile afterwards.”

“This is the trend in the United States. We haven’t quite caught up in the UK. In fact, we are far in advance here at the King Edward Hospital to regular practice in the UK.”

Although the Bermuda surgeries were the first in the US study, Dr Treacy has successfully implanted metal-on-polyethylene hip resurfacings (similar to the Polymotion) in Birmingham, UK, for the last 9 years. He has performed about 90 surgeries.

Worldwide, approximately 250 of these metal-on-polyethylene resurfacing devices have been implanted. The Polymotion is currently being used regularly in New Zealand on general release to treat various hip conditions. It is also going through the necessary regulatory processes in other global markets, including Australia and Canada.

Dr Peckett will perform most of the local clinical study cases. He said: “We are excited to be one of only ten centres that were chosen for this study. The other nine are all in the US.”

“Over 200 patients are expected to be enrolled in the study, which will run for at least 2 years. We would be expecting to enroll approximately 20 Bermudian patients in total over that time period.”

JointMedica, manufacturers of Polymotion, were on hand at the surgeries last week. President of the company, Dr. Sharat Kusuma, also an orthopaedic surgeon, said adding a polyethylene lining

to the socket of the metal ball and socket device differentiates it from its predecessor, the Birmingham. Over the past ten years, metal-on-metal hip replacement devices (like the Birmingham) have become less popular due to the metal-on-metal bearing surface. The Polymotion device incorporates several design features of Birmingham resurfacing but eliminates the metal-metal bearing surface.

Dr Treacy said:Dr Peckett just did his 300th outpatient joint replacement here over the last two years. This is an extraordinary achievement due in large part to the King Edward nursing staff, radiology staff, its anaesthetic staff, and a lot of pre-operative work.”

BHB Chief of Surgery Dr. Alicia Stovell-Washington said: “We are proud that JointMedica has included KEMH as a site for this FDA study; it reinforces that our surgical department has world-class staff and processes.”

We thank Drs Treacy and Peckett for spearheading this effort to improve the lives of our patients.

Bringing the Polymotion clinical study to Bermuda completely aligns with our BHB vision; To pursue excellence through improvement, to make Bermuda proud.

For more information on the Polymotion device click here.

Pictured at the top, from left: Tim Band, Senior Director Market Development, JointMedica; Dr William Peckett, BHB Director of Orthopaedics; Dr Sharat Kusuma, President, JointMedica; Jason Osier and Warner Watkins, JointMedica distribution agents. 

17 February 2025 Home Page, News

BHB Public Advisory on Patient Billings

Friday 24 January 2025: Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) wishes to inform the public that in recent weeks some of its patients have received bills that they would not normally receive.

This is due to how some claims were processed by the BHB’s Patient Electronic & Administrative Records Log (PEARL).

BHB has made changes to its system to prevent this issue from reoccurring.

BHB’s Chief Financial Officer, Arthur Ebbin said: “We apologise to those who have received these bills and thank those who contacted us querying their bills. We also invite anyone who has a question about their bill to call our Collections Department on 239-2026.”

 

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24 January 2025 Home Page, News