Belize Unveils Bold 5-Year Plan to Strengthen Healthcare Workforce
Belize’s healthcare system runs on the people who show up every day to care for others, and now, there’s a renewed push to better care for them. In a move aimed at easing staff shortages and strengthening frontline services, the Ministry of Health and Wellness today rolled out a new five-year plan focused squarely on the country’s medical workforce. The Belize Human Resources for Health Policy and Strategic Plan 2026–2030 sets out to tackle long-standing gaps in staffing, training and access to skilled professionals nationwide. Shane Williams has the story.
Shane Williams, Reporting
Belize is taking a hard look at how it supports the people who keep its healthcare system running. Today, the Ministry of Health and Wellness unveiled a new five-year strategy aimed at building a stronger, better-distributed workforce across the country. The Belize Human Resources for Health Policy and Strategic Plan 2026–2030 zeroes in on training, staffing, and making sure communities everywhere have access to qualified professionals. Health Minister Kevin Bernard says this plan marks a major step forward, one shaped by the lessons learned during the Covid-19 pandemic, when gaps in the system became impossible to ignore.
Kevin Bernard
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health and Wellness
“The COVID-19 pandemic, and I believe we can constantly speak about this, reinforced something many of us already knew, but perhaps did not fully appreciate until our health system was tested. During those difficult years, our physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, laboratory staff, community health workers, public health professional practitioners, and support personnel carried an enormous responsibility. They worked long hours, adapted quickly to changing circumstances, and continued providing care under significant pressure. Their efforts helped our country navigate one of the most challenging periods in recent history.”
The policy comes at a time when countries around the world continue to grapple with shortages of healthcare professionals, migration of skilled workers and Belize’s struggle to retain them.
Dr. Andre Chell
Dr. Andre Chell, Director, Policy, Research and Planning, Ministry of Health and Wellness
“Currently, Belize has thirty-eight-point-two physicians, nurses and midwives per ten thousand population, right? The recommended threshold by the World Health Organization is forty-four-point-five physicians, nurses and midwives per ten thousand. That is to meet universal health, right? To move towards universal health coverage. We know that we have shortage of healthcare workers. And so these two documents try to address those challenges.”
Project Head Dr. Andre Chell says the strategy wasn’t built in isolation, but came out of wide-ranging consultations with healthcare professionals, administrators, and key partners. The result, he explains, is a forward-looking plan designed not just to fix today’s staffing pressures, but to prepare for the country’s future healthcare needs.
Dr. Andre Chell
“Throughout the stakeholder engagement and the consultation sessions that we had, we wanted to get their perspective, their experience, and of course, the challenges that they’re facing, right? As you all know, the government of Belize is currently phasing a retention strategy for nurses now, but we now want to look at the other cadres of healthcare workers. And so both the policy and the strategic plan speak to actually developing a national retention strategy for all cadres of healthcare workers, and that would be one of the main priorities quick wins that we want to achieve in the next few months.”
The Ministry of Health and Wellness also must prepare for the departure of the Cuban Medical Brigade, which will decrease the number of health workers per ten thousand citizens and put added stress on already overworked human resources. Shane Williams for News Five.
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