Visitors need a doctor once, in a hurry. Residents need something different: one clinician who knows their history, can order the same blood tests every six months, writes the repeat prescriptions and knows which specialist to call when something is beyond a general practice. In Grenada that relationship is built deliberately. Nobody assigns you a GP, there is no national patient register, and your records will not follow you from clinic to clinic on their own.
This piece is about setting up that ongoing care once you live here, on Grenada itself or on Carriacou: choosing between the public and private routes, getting routine tests done, handling referrals, and keeping a file of your own so that a new doctor, or an emergency room at two in the morning, can see what matters in minutes.
Two systems running side by side
Public primary care is delivered through health centres and smaller medical stations spread across every parish, run by the Ministry of Health. Each district has a district medical officer, with nurses and community health aides doing much of the day-to-day work: blood pressure checks, child clinics, antenatal visits, dressings and chronic disease follow-up. Fees at public facilities are low or nominal for citizens and residents, but you will wait, and the doctor you see may change from visit to visit.
Private general practitioners are concentrated around St George's, Grand Anse, Morne Jaloux and the True Blue area, with fewer in Grenville, Gouyave and Sauteurs. A standard private consultation is commonly somewhere in the region of EC$100 to EC$250 (roughly US$37 to US$93), depending on the practice and what is done; confirm when you book, because fees change. For hospital care, the main public hospital is the General Hospital in St George's, with Princess Alice Hospital in St Andrew's and Princess Royal Hospital on Carriacou. St Augustine's Medical Services in St Paul's is the best-known private hospital option. Many residents use both systems: a private GP for continuity and the public system for specific clinics, admissions and emergencies.
How to choose a GP you will stay with
Ask around before you need one. Grenada is small enough that neighbours, colleagues, your church or your pharmacist will name the same few doctors again and again. Ask why: punctuality, willingness to explain, ease of getting a same-day slot. A recommendation for a doctor who is excellent but impossible to reach is not much use for routine care.
Book an introductory visit while well. Bring your history, your medicines and recent results, and use the visit to agree how repeat prescriptions, results and follow-ups will work. You learn a lot about a practice from how it handles a patient with no urgent problem.
Check how results reach you. Some practices phone, some expect you to collect a paper report, some message. Agree it up front, so an abnormal result does not sit in a drawer.
Ask who covers when the doctor is away. Small practices often have one doctor. Find out who sees patients during holidays and whether that colleague can see your notes.
Think about location honestly. A doctor twenty minutes away in light traffic can be an hour away at school-run time. For regular visits, a practice on your own side of the island is often worth more than a slightly better reputation.
Blood tests, scans and routine screening
Routine blood work is straightforward. Your doctor writes a request and you take it to a private laboratory or to the hospital laboratory; several private labs operate in and around St George's and Grand Anse, and some collect samples at satellite points or GP practices. Ask whether you need to fast, go early because queues build through the morning, and carry cash as well as a card. Most common panels come back within a day or two; specialised tests may be sent overseas and take a week or more, so ask before you assume.
Ultrasound, X-ray and mammography are available on the island through public and private providers; CT is available, while MRI access has historically been more limited, so check current availability with your doctor rather than assuming. For screening, the practical approach is to agree a schedule with your GP based on age and family history, then put dates in your own calendar. No national system will send you a reminder letter for a mammogram or colonoscopy, and some procedures, such as certain endoscopy or cardiology investigations, may be quicker to arrange on a planned trip to Trinidad, Barbados or North America.
The personal medical file every resident should keep
Because records do not travel between the public system, private doctors and overseas hospitals, the safest record is the one you carry. Keep one paper folder and a scanned copy on your phone or in cloud storage, and update it after every visit:
- A one-page summary: diagnoses, past operations, allergies, blood group if known, and your doctor's name.
- A current medication list with generic names, doses and times, not just brand names, because brands differ here.
- Copies of every lab report, filed by date, so trends in cholesterol, HbA1c or kidney function are visible at a glance.
- Imaging reports and, for important scans, the images on a disc or download link from the provider.
- Letters from specialists, including anything from your previous country translated into English if needed.
- Vaccination history, including tetanus and hepatitis boosters and any travel vaccines.
- Insurance details and the policy's instructions for pre-authorising treatment or evacuation.
- Contact details for next of kin, both on-island and abroad.
Referrals, specialists and the overseas question
Grenada has resident specialists in many core fields, from obstetrics and paediatrics to internal medicine and general surgery, and visiting specialists hold periodic clinics. For rarer specialties, a referral usually means one of three things: waiting for a visiting consultant's next clinic, a planned trip to a larger regional centre, or care in your home country. Your GP is the person who knows which route is realistic for a given problem, which is another reason to have one.
If your insurance covers overseas treatment, read the pre-authorisation rules before anything urgent happens; many policies refuse claims where the insurer was not contacted first. Keep receipts and reports from every private visit, since local providers rarely bill international insurers directly and you will usually pay first and claim afterwards. Grenada has long discussed a national health insurance scheme, but it was not in operation at the time of writing: the government ended its contract with the firm developing it in early 2025 and said it would pursue a simpler, phased approach.
Mistakes newcomers make
Waiting for a crisis to find a doctor. The worst time to choose a GP is with a fever on a Sunday. Register informally with a practice in your first month.
Arriving without a medicine supply. Bring at least three months of regular medicines with prescriptions, then check local availability of each one before stock runs low.
Relying on memory for results. "It was fine last year" helps nobody. Keep the numbers.
Skipping the health centre entirely. Public clinics are good at the basics, including immunisations, blood pressure monitoring and child health, and they know the local disease picture, from dengue to leptospirosis.
Assuming private means everything is on-site. Even good private clinics send samples out, refer for scans and transfer serious cases. Ask what is done in-house.
Changing doctors without collecting notes. If you move practice, ask politely for a copy or summary of your notes. Most doctors will provide one, sometimes for a small fee, and it saves your new GP from starting blind.
Ignoring the pharmacist. Pharmacists in Grenada are a useful first stop for minor problems and for checking whether a medicine is stocked locally or needs ordering. A good relationship with one pharmacy pays off every month.
Frequently asked questions
Can foreign residents use public health centres in Grenada?
Yes. Public health centres see residents, and fees are low, though non-nationals may be charged differently for some services. Bring identification and expect a wait. Many expatriates use health centres for vaccinations and routine checks and a private GP for continuity of care.
How much does a private GP visit cost in Grenada?
A routine private consultation commonly falls somewhere between EC$100 and EC$250, roughly US$37 to US$93, with tests, injections and procedures extra. Fees vary by practice and change over time, so ask when booking rather than relying on figures you have read.
Do Grenadian doctors share records with each other?
Not automatically. There is no single shared electronic record between public facilities, private practices and overseas hospitals. Ask for copies of reports at every visit and keep your own file, which is the only reliable way to give a new doctor your full history.
Where do residents get routine blood tests done?
At private laboratories in and around St George's and Grand Anse, at some GP practices that take samples, or at the hospital laboratory. You normally need a written request from a doctor. Ask about fasting requirements and turnaround time before you go.
Is there a family doctor service on Carriacou?
Carriacou has Princess Royal Hospital, public health centres and a small number of private doctors. Range is limited, so residents with ongoing conditions often combine local care with periodic visits to doctors on mainland Grenada. Post-Beryl arrangements can change, so confirm current services locally.
