Dear Sir,

I am prompted to write to you as a result of recent experience with Bermuda’s medical facilities, and to offer support and encouragement for the fine people and physicians who work within those facilities every day.

Referred by my GP to the diagnostic imaging department at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, I underwent a CT scan, which resulted in a life-threatening cancer being diagnosed. In the next week, a further procedure needed to be done overseas because it is not supported here at present, but within a couple of days of my return, I was again back at King Edward VII for emergency abdominal surgery.

The decision to go to KEMH was a conscious and deliberate one, based on previous personal experience; and I have to say now that the decision was absolutely the best one I could have made. The staff at KEMH were amazing, and are as professional, competent, caring and helpful as any that I have met in medical facilities overseas — they truly do our Island proud.

Right down to the catering service staff, who would come into my room to find out if there was anything else I fancied that would make my (liquid-only) diet more satisfying, no one could have done more to try to make my stay more comfortable.

And the acute care wing itself? What an amazing facility we now have available to us. I was not initially a big fan of the proposed development to build it, but my eyes have been opened. It offers facilities that are as good as those at any of the other leading medical facilities on the United States mainland that we have always preferred to be sent to. I can no longer see any reason why Bermudians would consider overseas treatment when King Edward VII Memorial Hospital can meet virtually any requirement. For me now, KEMH will always be the first choice.

A further advantage that KEMH could get great value from is a nursing college to allow us to bring even more Bermudians into the Bermuda hospitals community. For now, though, I would just like to emphasise that we are very fortunate to have this world-class facility right here on our doorstep. Let’s get behind it and give it our full support.

Yours sincerely,

PETER LLEWELLYN

Smith’s