PM returns home after medical check-up

THE Prime Minister has returned home from the US, where he had a routine medical check-up.

The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) made the announcement in a statement on September 16.

Hours before the statement was issued, senior government officials said Dr Rowley was in good health but they were uncertain when he would return home.

Speaking on condition of anonymity on September 16, one official said no information has been received to indicate that Rowley had any health issues.

"He is very fit, probably more so than many (people) half his age."

A second official said there has not been any indication that "the Prime Minister's health is anything for us to be worried about."

Rowley left for the US on September 1.

He said he would be going for scheduled medical tests in the US, when he addressed a post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall on August 25.

Rowley said he was in good health, and had been postponing the routine medical examination he has had in the US for the last two years. Rowley, 74, added that his local doctors have advised him to have this examination and he has agreed with them.

In June 2022, Rowley underwent medical checks in Los Angeles. Those included cardiac and prostate analysis. He received a clean bill of health at that time.

Rowley decided to do his medical tests then after he attended the Ninth Summit of the Americas, which also took place in Los Angeles, on June 6, 2022.

In January 2021, Rowley was admitted to West Shore Hospital, to be treated for a cardiac issue. He was given a clean bill of health after having a stent inserted to allow blood to flow more freely through his heart.

In 2019, Rowley had had medical tests in the US to deal with a coronary issue which had been detected in 2016.

Speaking at a news conference on March 3, 2019, at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann's, Rowley said he currently suffers no symptoms that hamper his ability to perform his duties.

However his doctors – who have attended to him for the last 25 years in California – had asked him to prioritise his annual medical examination.

A 2016 coronary scan revealed Rowley had small soft plaque in one of his arteries and doctors said it should be monitored. In 2017, doctors said it appeared the plaque was growing. Their advice then was that it should be monitored to determine whether further intervention might be required.

Rowley said, “I should have gone back to my doctors by September 2018, but given the nature of my job and procrastination giving priority to other matters, I did not, for a year and a half, look at this problem again.”

Energy Minister Stuart Young was appointed to act as prime minister during Rowley's absence. Young previously acted as prime minister in July while Rowley was attending a Caricom heads of government conference in Grenada.

Rowley missed the final sitting of the House of Representatives at the end of the last parliamentary term on September 9. He also missed the House's first sitting when the new term opened on September 13. He submitted no requests to be excused from either of those sittings.

After its September 13 sitting, the House adjourned to a date to be fixed.