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Friday, July 31, 2026
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Doctors to launch 75-job ‘first of its kind hospital’ BY NEIL HARTNELL TRIBUNE Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net DOCTORS Hospital is partnering with a leading Indian medical institute to launch “a first of its kind specialist hospital” in The Bahamas to treat autism through a multi-million dollar investment billed as creating 75 local jobs. Dennis Deveaux, the BISXlisted healthcare provider’s chief executive, told Tribune Business that its former Doctors Hospital West facility on Blake Road is set to become the home for Bahamas NeuroGen Ltd’s neurological wellness centre with an opening planned for the company’s financial third quarter that begins August 1. Besides the real estate, he revealed that Doctors Hospital will also “provide support services” to the
and craft our own strategy” for regenerative and neurological medicine as part of imagining what the country’ health and wellness climate will look like come 2031 and beyond. He added that the BISX-listed provider may partner again with Neurogen Brain & Spine Institute, others or even go it alone when pursuing opportunities in this field. The Doctors Hospital chief spoke out after the Bahamas NeuroGen project was unveiled by the Central Bank
Slashed to just 2% nonconformity in 5-year period Collective $4m tied-up in criminal cases, prosecutions Financial crime assessment finds risks are mitigated
DENNIS DEVEAUX
A DOCTOR, who was first suspended for “forging sick certificates” for 185 Atlantis workers over a four-month period, has lost the latest bid to reinstate his medical licence to practice. Sir Ian Winder yesterday ruled that Dr Bertram Sears had supplied no “good reason” for why he missed the deadline, set in law, to launch a Judicial Review challenge to the Bahamas Medical Council’s (BMC) July 14, 2021, decision that left him in “regulatory limbo”. And he found
that giving the doctor the extra time he sought would be “detrimental to good administration” of the medical profession and the public interest. The Chief Justice, in his verdict, noted that Dr Sears was found by the Bahamas Medical Council’s disciplinary committee to have “not told the truth” after Atlantis complained more than 11 years ago about the number of sick slips he had issued to its employees to enable them to take days off work. The slips were issued over a four-month period between late 2014 and early 2015, and
Bahamas to outperform IMF with growth ‘just under’ 3.8% BY FAY SIMMONS TRIBUNE Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net THE CENTRAL Bank’s governor yesterday predicted The Bahamas will once again confound the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other observers by outperforming their 2026 expectations through full-year economic growth set to come in “just below” last year’s 3.8 percent. John Rolle, speaking at the regulator’s half-year economic developments conference, said the economy maintained healthy growth during the first half despite facing headwinds from higher inflation driven
JOHN ROLLE by rising world oil and fuel prices, ever-present geopolitical uncertainties and frequent and long-lasting power outages at home. Presenting the Central Bank's latest assessment, Mr Rolle said growth during the first six months
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PM requests BPL give more consumer relief BY FAY SIMMONS TRIBUNE Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Philip Davis KC yesterday said he has asked Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) to examine whether it can provide further financial relief to customers following Wednesday night’s islandwide disruption to homes and businesses across New Providence. Speaking to reporters while visiting the BPL Blue Hills power plant yesterday, Mr Davis said he has discussed whether consumers
affected by repeated outages and high electricity bills could receive concessions from the utility. "I've asked BPL to look at that, and they'll see what they can do," he said. Mr Davis acknowledged his frustration with the continued disruptions, but maintained that the latest outages should not be viewed as a failure of the Government's energy reform programme. "Well, it just tells us how complicated the whole issue is," he said.
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the Council’s disciplinary committee upheld the Paradise Island mega resort’s complaint that these were “forged” and issued without the patients being examined to determine if they were truly ill. “The underlying disciplinary proceedings brought against Sears arose from a formal complaint by Atlantis. The complaint alleged that, between November 6, 2014, and February 2015, the applicant issued 185 sick certificates without conducting medical examinations to determine whether
BY NEIL HARTNELL TRIBUNE Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
the certificates should be granted,” Sir Ian wrote. “The disciplinary committee of the BMC conducted a detailed investigation, in which Sears was legally represented. The committee held two days of hearings, heard evidence from Sears, and invited written closing submissions on his behalf. The Committee found that Sears was not a credible witness and had not told the truth. It concluded that he had forged sick certificates, despite his denials, and that he was guilty of serious professional misconduct.”
NON-COMPLIANCE by corporate entities with The Bahamas’ beneficial ownership regime has shrunk from 28 percent during COVID-19 to just 2 percent last year, it has been revealed, helping to minimise financial crime risks. The Bahamas’ latest assessment of the risks posed by money launderers, terror financiers and other financial criminals found that compliance with the Register of Beneficial Ownership Act 2018, which requires all corporate entities domiciled in this nation to maintain accurate and current information on their owners and control purposes, has improved significantly over the past five years. Blaming COVID, and the fact the Bahamian financial services industry was still getting to grips with the Act’s demands, for more than one-quarter of all Bahamas-registered entities being non-compliant in 2021, the report said steady improvement has taken the sector to a position where there is near-total conformity. “Beneficial ownership compliance across legal persons and arrangements in The Bahamas remained high and improved steadily during the 2021–2025 period,” The Bahamas’ risk assessment 2025 asserted. “The compliance rate in 2021 was around 72 percent, reflecting the relatively recent implementation of BOSS (Beneficial Ownership Secure Search System) in 2019 and the temporary extensions granted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “From 2022 onwards, compliance increased steadily, reaching approximately 98 percent by 2025. This trend reflects the effectiveness of ongoing supervisory measures, timely regulatory engagement and the embedding of
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of The Bahamas in its June 2026 and second quarter economic developments report. “A neurological wellness facility is planned for the former Doctors Hospital West on Blake Road, offering diagnostics, medical treatment, neuro-rehabilitation, integrative therapies and autologous stem cell therapy for patients with autism,
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Atlantis ‘sick slip’ doctor loses reinstatement bid BY NEIL HARTNELL TRIBUNE Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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Beneficial ownership noncompliance cut from COVID’s 28%
BISX provider teams with Indian specialist for neurological wellness centre Renovates Blake Road facility that will first treat autism, then other illnesses ‘Next growth chapter’; multi-million project said be be seeking 39 work permits facility although its operation will be left to the Bahamian subsidiary of Neurogen Brain & Spine Institute, the Navi Mumbai-based provider that specialises in treating persons with “incurable neurological disorders” such as autism, cerebral palsy, strokes, dementia, spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophy and motor neuron disease. Mr Deveaux explained that the Bahamas NeuroGen tie-up will enable Doctors Hospital to “understand what this type of medicine involves
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