Poinciana Rehabilitation Center Marks World Mental Health Day with a week of activities and Community Open House.
More than 100 people attend community event featuring a healthcare leadership panel, facility tours and opportunities to connect with organisations supporting mental health and wellbeing in the Cayman Islands.
GRAND CAYMAN, CAYMAN ISLANDS — October 12, 2026 — Poinciana Rehabilitation Center (PRC) marked World Mental Health Day with a week-long series of special activities culminating in a community open house on Saturday, October 10. More than 100 people attended the event, bringing together healthcare leaders, mental health professionals, community organisations and members of the public to celebrate progress in mental health care and encourage continued dialogue about the needs of people living with mental illness.
The open house provided an opportunity for the community to learn more about Poinciana’s work, tour the facility, engage directly with leaders in healthcare and mental health, and connect with organisations offering services and support to individuals and families across the Cayman Islands.
A central feature of the event was a 90-minute panel discussion that brought together senior representatives from healthcare and mental health leadership to reflect on the evolution of services in the Cayman Islands, the growing demand for specialist care and the importance of continuing to strengthen the continuum of services available to people living with severe mental illness. The discussion was moderated by Jennifer Weber, a member of the Poinciana Rehabilitation Center Advisory Council.
Recognising progress in mental health care
The panel featured Parliamentary Secretary Wayne Panton; Dr. Steve Tomlinson; Marcia Mullings-Thompson, Director of Poinciana Rehabilitation Center; Dr. Marc Lockhart; Dr. Hilary Wolf, Chief Medical Officer of the Cayman Islands; and Fiona McDougall, Chair of the Cayman Islands Mental Health Commission.
The discussion highlighted the significant progress made in healthcare provision in the Cayman Islands and the importance of recognising mental health as an essential component of overall health and wellbeing.
Dr. Marc Lockhart underscored this message with a simple but powerful statement: “There is no healthcare without mental health care.”
His words captured a central theme of the discussion: mental health cannot be treated as separate from healthcare as a whole. It must be recognised as an integral part of the services, support and treatment available to individuals and families throughout the community.
The discussion also reflected a sense of celebration at how far the Cayman Islands has come in developing services for people with significant mental health needs. While acknowledging that the Islands have had considerable ground to make up in the provision of healthcare, the panel recognised the progress made in expandingthe continuum of care available to people living with severe mental illness.
The ability to provide more comprehensive care within the Cayman Islands represents an important step forward for patients, their families and the wider community.
A growing population, a continuing need for specialist care
Dr. Steve Tomlinson placed the current demand for mental health services in historical context, reminding attendees that the need for medical specialists in the Cayman Islands is not new.
“In the early days of healthcare in the Cayman Islands, we needed oncologists, psychiatrists, cardiologists, orthopaedists, obstetricians and everything else, but we only had a population of 7,000 people back then,” he observed.
With the population having grown substantially since those early days, Dr. Tomlinson emphasised that the need for healthcare specialists has become even more pressing. Mental health care, he noted, remains a vital part of meeting the healthcare needs of the Cayman Islands population.
His remarks highlighted the importance of continuing to develop local expertise, services and facilities that respond to the needs of a growing community, while ensuring that mental health receives the attention and resources it requires.
Addressing the practical challenges patients face
The panel discussion also created space for members of the audience to raise concerns about issues affecting people who rely on mental health services.
One audience member questioned the difficulties patients experience in obtaining repeat prescriptions for psychiatric medications under monthly prescription requirements introduced during the tenure of the previous Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Gent.
In response, Dr. Hilary Wolf acknowledged the burden these requirements can place on people who take medication daily over many years.
“We hear you,” Dr. Wolf said, recognising that requiring patients to visit their doctor every month to obtain a prescription for medication they take on an ongoing basis can be burdensome.
She explained that the requirements had been introduced to protect patients, but that unintended consequences had emerged. Dr. Wolf indicated that work was underway to explore changes that would make it easier for people who require daily psychiatric medication to access their prescriptions without having to visit their doctor 12 times a year simply to obtain a one-month supply.
Her response acknowledged the importance of balancing patient safety with practical access to treatment. For people managing long-term mental health conditions, continuity of medication can be an important part of maintaining stability and wellbeing. Reducing unnecessary administrative burdens, while maintaining
appropriate safeguards, is therefore an important consideration in improving the patient experience.
The exchange demonstrated the value of creating opportunities for community members to speak openly about their experiences and concerns, and for healthcare leaders to hear directly from those affected by existing policies.
Opening Poinciana’s doors to the community
In addition to the panel discussion, visitors were invited to take guided tours of the Poinciana Rehabilitation Center facility, providing an opportunity to see the environment in which residents receive care and rehabilitation and to learn more about the services and support available.
Community members were also encouraged to visit the information booths and speak directly with supporting exhibitors representing a range of organisations involved in healthcare, social services, human rights and community wellbeing.
Participating organisations included representatives from the Health Services Authority (HSA), the Department of Financial Assistance (DFA), the Human Rights Commission and the National Drug Council, among others.
The exhibitor booths gave attendees an opportunity to ask questions, learn about available services and resources, and make connections with organisations that support individuals and families facing health, social and other challenges.
The combination of facility tours, the panel discussion and the information booths helped make the open house an opportunity not only to raise awareness, but also to encourage practical connections between the public and the organisations working to support the community.
Building awareness, understanding and community support
By bringing together healthcare leaders, mental health professionals, community organisations and the public, the open house reinforced the importance of collaboration in addressing mental health needs across the Cayman Islands.
World Mental Health Day provides an opportunity to move beyond awareness alone and encourage meaningful conversations about access to treatment, the development of services, the experiences of patients and families, and the collective responsibility to support people living with mental illness.
For Poinciana Rehabilitation Center, the week-long programme culminating in the October 10 open house offered an opportunity to place these conversations at the heart of community engagement. It also provided a platform to recognise the progress being made in local mental health care while acknowledging the ongoing work needed to ensure that individuals can access appropriate treatment, rehabilitation and support.
The event’s discussions reflected a shared understanding that improving mental health outcomes requires more than clinical services alone. It calls for continued investment in care, collaboration among healthcare providers and government, informed public dialogue, and a community that recognises mental health as an essential part of overall health.
As the Cayman Islands continues to develop its healthcare services, Poinciana Rehabilitation Center’s World Mental Health Day programme served as a reminder of the importance of maintaining momentum, listening to patients and families, and working together to strengthen the support available to those who need it.
Interested in learning more about Poinciana?
Community members who were unable to attend the open house but would like to tour Poinciana Rehabilitation Center and learn more about its work are encouraged to get in touch.
To arrange a visit, contact Jennifer Weber, Poinciana Rehabilitation Center Advisory Council member, on 925-3808 or by email at jennifer345weber@gmail.com