By S.Browne. Updated 1:36 p.m., Thursday, June 25, 2026, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
The Mental Health Rehabilitation Centre is operating with staffing levels that see nurse-to-patient ratios rise to as high as one nurse to 112 patients during night shifts, officials have disclosed.
Speaking during a press conference held on Thursday, June 25, 2026, Senior Nursing Officer at Mental Health Services, Kayashma Charles, said the institution is currently staffed with 65 nursing personnel, including staff nurses, nursing aides and supervisory staff.
She said the staffing situation is a “daily issue” at the facility and outlined how personnel are distributed across wards and shifts.
“We have our staff nurses, we have our nursing aides, and we have one manager, myself, as a senior nursing officer.”
“You have heard some of the challenges mentioned before by Dr. Alvis in regards to the institution, and this is one of our daily issues at the Mental Health Rehabilitation Center.”
Charles detailed the patient-to-staff ratios across different wards and shifts.
“Looking at the high-level patient-to-staff ratio at the Mental Health Rehabilitation Center, on the day shift, on the female ward, we are looking at one staff nurse for 22 patients. On the male ward, it can be one staff nurse for 55 patients. On the night shift, there’s a total of seven staff, where there’s one staff nurse, and this of course is according to the census, there can be one staff nurse for 112 patients, or there can be one staff nurse for 44 patients.”
She said another major challenge is the limited number of trained psychiatric nurses within the system.
“Another challenge will be that we do not have a lot of trained psychiatric nurses.”
“So there’s myself, who is the only psychiatric nurse practitioner. In addition to that, we have four psychiatric nurses in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
She said despite these pressures, nursing staff continue to provide care within the facility.
“But our nursing staff, they are competent and continue to deliver the best quality of nursing care.”
Charles, who serves as both Senior Nursing Officer and a psychiatric nurse practitioner, said she is responsible for leading and managing nursing operations at the institution.
Mental health services, she added, are not limited to the rehabilitation centre. Care is also provided through outpatient psychiatric clinics, community mental health teams, and rural outreach services across St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The Mental Health Rehabilitation Centre operates within this wider national system of mental health care.
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