Editorial Board Q&A: Top Lesson Learned as a Healthcare Stakeholder/Executive in Past Decade

Her Excellency
Juliette Sutherland

One of the greatest lessons I learned as a leader in healthcare during COVID is to embrace fear and anxiety not as a stumbling block, or a paralytic, but as a superpower. It infuses your leadership approaches with humanity and humility, it makes you give yourself and others grace, and it allows you not to accept or encourage mediocrity because if I can perform (with all the burdens and expectations being carried) so too can others—we each need to find the courage not to compromise excellence with excuses.

Dr. Ronald Georges

I’ve learned over the years that leadership today must be systems-driven, rooted in prevention, preparedness, equity, and evidence. To the next generation of Caribbean healthcare leaders: lead beyond the moment. Build strong policies, forge cross-sector partnerships, and focus on lasting public value over quick wins. The region needs not just managers, but bold architects of transformation. Build what lasts. Advocate for what matters. And remember: leadership is a practice, not a position.

Resilient health systems aren’t built in crisis; they’re shaped long before, through steady, visionary leadership. In facing disasters, pandemics, and cyberattacks, I’ve learned that while technical skills matter, it’s trust, coherence, and preparedness that define true resilience. What you build and train for before the storm determines how you withstand and recover from it.

Dr. Ricky Brathwaite

A key lesson I’ve learned as a healthcare executive is that healthcare is fundamentally a team sport—no single entity can succeed alone. True progress demands frameworks that foster collaboration, bridging gaps between policy, practice, technology, and community. My leadership is now centered on building integrated systems that align incentives, encourage shared accountability, and leverage our collective strengths. To the next generation of Caribbean healthcare leaders, my advice is simple: embrace interconnectedness to achieve measurable improvements in system efficiency and population health.

Mary Miller Sallah, MHA

“While I’ve spent over 15 years working in the region, I come from the outside. That perspective—combined with growing experience—has, at times, enabled timely and even disruptive collaboration. At other times, I’ve learned hard lessons that have deeply matured my understanding of what it means to lead here.

Whether foreign-born or Caribbean-born, all healthcare leaders must operate from a place of self-sacrifice. The next 10 years are critical. We need leaders who can advocate relentlessly, inspire from both the top and the grassroots, and remain flexible in their approach to motivation and systems change. Persistence and grit are non-negotiable—what should take days may take months, even years. But it’s crucial to maintain the belief that there is deep capacity and a true desire for progress within the region. Everyone deserves to experience positive leadership.

To the next generation, I would emphasize this: prioritize technology adoption and strategically plan care where resources yield the greatest impact. That’s where sustainable change will take root.”