St. George's (GIS): Grenada is looking into the possibility of sourcing nurses from abroad to help deal with a nursing shortage in the country. Health Minister Karl Hood says at least 200 nurses are needed to adequately staff the General Hospital. However, there are currently only 108 established nursing positions in the public service. The situation is further exacerbated by nursing shortages also being experienced at smaller facilities across the nation, including in Carriacou. Honourable Hood said the first option for improving the situation is to hire and train locally. In the meantime, he has not ruled out trying to find nurses "who are able to come in at this point, while we have some nurses in training so we'll be able to adequately take care of our institutions". The Minister said that government, in an effort to increase the availability of specialist services in the country, had approved staffing positions at the General Hospital for doctors, including neurosurgeons, and for two additional medical practitioners for the Princess Alice Hospital. Mr. Hood has also disclosed that a National Health Insurance Scheme for Grenadians will soon be formulated by government. He said Cabinet has already approved the formation of a steering committee to look into the health insurance proposal, which has been the subject of discussions with representatives of the trade union movement, the Chamber of Commerce, the Employers Federation and the National Insurance Scheme. From GIS INSIDE GRENADA NEWS