By Spence Finlayson
NASSAU, Bahamas – I interviewed Dr. Conville S. Brown for my magazine The Independent Thinker many years ago and he was so inspiring captivating, and motivational.
He agreed to give me 10 minutes of his time for the interview and when we were finished, an hour had passed. He is national treasure and definitely a visionary.
A renowned cardiologist, medical pioneer and healthcare developer, Dr. Conville Brown (’79) has devoted his life to the good health, welfare and service of others. He is a noted philanthropist and a man of many firsts in his profession and sphere of influence.
He has tremendous affinity and affection for Acadia, which has served the University well in both an alumni engagement capacity in the Bahamas and added value and prestige to recruitment conversations with prospective students and their parents.
Born in Nassau, 11/21/1958, to Virginia and the late Lawrence Brown.
After graduating from The Bahamas Government High School in 1975 at age 16, he attended Acadia University then Dalhousie University in Canada, and then the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, where he received his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery Degree (MBBS) in December, 1982.
He was the youngest qualified Internist and Cardiologist in the Bahamas and the Caribbean in 7/1990 after his Residency and Fellowship training at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.
He received certification from the American Board of Internal Medicine, in the Subspecialty of Cardiovascular Disease, 11/1991. He was the 1st Bahamian and 3rd from Caribbean to be inducted as a Fellow of The American College of Cardiology (FACC), 3/1994, and later, a Fellow of The European Society of Cardiology (FESC).
Dr. Brown is considered a pioneer in the field of Cardiology in the Bahamas and the Caribbean, with the organization and advancement of The Bahamas Centre for Heart Disease, Ltd., better known as The Bahamas Heart Centre, established in July, 1990.
As founder, director and physician-in-chief, he has catapulted the Centre to a high level of healthcare excellence.
He has instituted, introduced or facilitated, via Private and Personal Investments, a number of Firsts for the Bahamas and sometimes, the Caribbean, during his career, including but not limited to: – Color Echocardiography, Pacemaker System Implants, Advanced SPECT Nuclear Cardiology System, Telemedicine, Facilitated Open Heart Surgery, Established Cardiac Catheterization and Coronary Angiography with Angioplasty and Stenting, Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators and Resynchronization Therapy, 16-Slice CT Scanner, Radiation Therapy (with IMRT), and Digital Mammography and Haemodialysis Services.
He has led the development of many medical enterprises, including but not limited to The Bahamas Interventional Cardiology Centre at Doctors Hospital, The Sunrise Medical Centre-Hospital Complex in Freeport, Grand Bahama, and ultimately, The Medical Pavilion Bahamas which serves as Home to The Heart, Chest, Cancer, Imaging, Breast, Dialysis, Stem Cell and The Partners Clinical Research Centres.
All said enterprises practice Dr. Brown’s Signature Partnered Care Model, (1990), A Unique Tri-Partite Partnership with Private, Government and User Sectors, Sharing the Phenomenal Healthcare Burden, and which thereby Assures Access to ALL for advanced services, irrespective of their ability to pay for same, be they public or private, insured or not, rich or poor.
Dr. Brown was recognized by The Medical Association of The Bahamas in 1999, honoured as A Legend in the Field of Medicine in The Bahamas in 2004, was “Jones Communications Network’s Civil Society Person of The Year, 2009”, received The Bahamas’ Icon Award for Health in 2015, and was honored by The Caribbean Cardiac Society in 2016. He is a former President of the latter and long-serving trustee of the Sir Victor Sassoon Heart Foundation.
At the invitation of Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda, 2009, Dr. Brown has constructed The Medical Pavilion Antigua, (TMPA), Home to The Cancer Centre Eastern Caribbean for The Organization Of Eastern Caribbean States, (OECS), (10 countries and over 1,000,000 residents), as the OECS’ First Sub-Regional Specialist Medical Centre for Cancer, and soon Home to The Heart Centre Antigua and The Imaging Centre Antigua (PET-CT).
His latest offering, The Institute for Advanced Medical Procedures, (IAMP), will make advanced medical technologies and therapies available to Medical Tourists in The Bahamas years before availability in The USA or Canada. The Partners Clinical Research Centre and The Partners Stem Cell Centre are also making their mark with The Bahamas’ 1st Ethical Cardiac Stem Cell Implantation (10/11/12) and Landmark Clinical Research.
Dr. C. S. Brown is married to Dr. Corrine Sin Quee-Brown, (Paediatric Haematologist-Oncologist), and they have three children, Conville Stephan (IT), Corey Samuel (Law) and Chelsea Samantha (Medicine), Principals of The CSB5 Group.
Despite his busy work schedule, he finds time to Thank his God at his beloved Anglican Church of Christ The King, which he proudly helped to build as a child some 51 years ago, and where he delivered the Fathers’ Day Address in 2010.
Dr. Brown continues to live his medical business motto of:
“Striving For Excellence With A Hearty Smile While Ensuring Affordable Access For ALL Via Partnered Care”
Spence M. Finlayson is the founder & CEO of The Phoenix Institute For Positive Development & Empowerment, a Human Resources Development firm based in Nassau with a global reach. He can be contacted at his email at [email protected] or via his website The Phoenix Empowerment
