Grand Cayman, Tuesday, 10 January 2023 – The Honourable Sabrina Turner, Minister for Health and Wellness, and the entire extended team at the Ministry of Health and Wellness would like to extend their sincerest condolences to the family of the late Nurse Josie Solomon.

Nurse Solomon played an essential role in the formation of Cayman’s Public Health Department and is recognised as being instrumental in the creation of the Medical Officer of Health post.  She was also one of the key persons responsible for the recruitment of Dr Kiran Kumar, Cayman’s first Medical Officer of Health, whom she met while pursuing her studies in Jamaica.

Nurse Solomon is perhaps best remembered for the vital role that played in the development of Maternity and Child Health in the Cayman Islands.

“Nurse Solomon was a staple and an icon of this community,” Minister Turner stated. “From the early 1970s through until the 1990s she was a key driver in developing the maternal and child health programme.  Her work was multi-faceted and included antenatal care, post-natal care, and of course the childhood vaccination programme. She was a driver of our national immunisation programme, and her work undoubtedly saved many lives.  Nurse Solomon built the foundation for public health over her many years of dedicated service, and we are all the better for it,” Minister Turner concluded.