FREEPORT, Grand Bahama, The Bahamas – The strategic partnership between Western Atlantic University and the Government of the Bahamas has the potential to create a diversified economy, said Mrs. Ann Marie Davis of the Office of the Spouse of the Prime Minister, while giving welcome remarks at Western Atlantic University School of Medicine's 5th White Coat Ceremony on Saturday, May 13, 2023 at Grand Lucayan Resort.

According to Mrs. Davis the government will break ground on the site of the new state-of-the-art hospital which is being designed to meet the needs of the growing, aging population as well as the increasing number of visitors to the island.

“It is expected as well, ladies and gentlemen, that at some point in the future this facility will not only be a teaching hospital like Princess Margaret Hospital in New Providence, but it will facilitate medical research. It is hoped and expected that the deliberate expansion of our health care infrastructure will cause for a deepening and broadening of our current partnership.”

The mutually beneficial partnership, Mrs. Davis continued, has the potential to be the catalyst for growth into significant economic pillars of the economy where tourism, education, medical research, professional health care and delivery services create a diversified economy.  

Mrs. Davis congratulated those receiving white coats and pledging to preserve, protect and prolong human life when and where possible. To the parents, guardians and friends she said they should continue to support and encourage the students as they begin the most “intense and challenging years of their young lives.”

To the students she said no matter where their profession takes them, she wishes them success and they should also encourage anyone who would like to pursue a career in Medicine to attend the Western Atlantic University Freeport campus.