![\"Sharon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UO5YVDOXMHPNCVO3KPR2UWJ5UE.jpg\")
Sharon Symonds received preoperation care before her cochlear implant surgery at Mass Eye and Ear in Boston in 2024.Sharon Symonds<\/p>\n
Home to some of the premier hospitals in the United States, Boston has long been an attractive option for people who need specialized care that isn\u2019t always available in the islands. Of the top five overseas hospitals used most frequently by people from Bermuda, four are in Boston: Boston Children\u2019s Hospital, Brigham and Women\u2019s, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Lahey Clinic Hospital in Burlington, according to the Bermuda Health Council.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an easy enough trip, less than two hours one-way. Commercial flights to Boston run daily, and air ambulances are readily available to transport more severely ill patients.<\/p>\n
But Bermuda, like other small island communities, has limited access to comprehensive medical services, particularly for complex conditions, said Dr. David Martin, medical director of Mass General Brigham International.<\/p>\n
With a total land area of about 20 square miles, the small British territory is home to about 65,000 people \u2014 roughly the capacity of Gillette Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not justifiable for a small population island like that to have cardiac surgery or brain surgery or complex cancer surgery,\u201d Martin said. \u201cThese are things that generally are not in such high demand that a small population could sustain that expertise.\u201d <\/p>\n
There are few details about the circumstances of the crash. Some debris from the plane has been found, but authorities have suspended the search for survivors. <\/p>\n
In Bermuda, Sharon Symonds, 68, said she knew the two on the missing medical transport flight but said the incident was unlikely to deter her or others from seeking care in Boston. <\/p>\n
Symonds had cochlear implant surgery in both her ears and said her local ear, nose, and throat doctor recommended she have the operation at Mass Eye and Ear.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey wouldn\u2019t have offered this care in Bermuda,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
As a government employee, Symonds, now retired, said her insurance covered her flights and the procedures and provided her with a small stipend for a hotel in Boston. <\/p>\n
Usually, island residents make the trip to receive care at a hospital, according to the Bermuda Health Council report, which analyzed claims data from fiscal year 2022. But patients also traveled for lab and pharmacy services, to see physicians and specialists, and to receive vision and optometry care. The most common conditions related to overseas care included kidney failure, hypertension, heart conditions, cancer treatment, and fibroids, according to the report. <\/p>\n
Formal health care partnerships between Bermuda and Boston go back at least 30 years, when Ewart Brown<\/a>, a doctor who would go on to serve as Bermuda\u2019s premier, established a relationship with the Lahey Clinic.<\/p>\n That relationship came under scrutiny in 2017 when the government of Bermuda sued Lahey,<\/a> accusing the hospital of bribing Brown, who served as premier from 2006 to 2010, to secure health care business there. Lahey denied the allegations<\/a> and the suit was later dismissed. In 2021, Brown was charged by local prosecutors<\/a> with corruption related to the arrangement. <\/p>\n \u201cWe respect the court\u2019s decision to dismiss the lawsuit several years ago,\u201d said Sarah Finlaw, a spokesperson for Beth Israel Lahey Health. Finlaw noted that the lawsuit came prior to the formation of the current version of the Lahey system.<\/p>\n Lahey and its physicians continue to serve the islanders who travel to Massachusetts for emergency and outpatient care. Lahey physicians also visit Bermuda to provide specialty care related to vascular surgery, endocrinology, ophthalmology, neurology, and allergy and immunology.<\/p>\n Other major hospital systems and clinics in Massachusetts, including MGB and Dana-Farber, similarly receive many Bermudian patients. <\/p>\n Last year, MGB had about 4,500 to 5,000 patients come from around the world, Martin said. Bermuda referred the most people for care, he said. <\/p>\n When Glasford went back to MGB last year to receive high-dose radiation therapy, which is not available in Bermuda, he recalled seeing other Bermudians at the hospital. A nurse, he said, recognized where he was from based on his accent. <\/p>\n If he needs specialized care again, Glasford said he would return to MGB \u201cin a heartbeat.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThe level of care was high,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Bermudians seeking health care mostly take commercial flights. Fewer patients use air ambulances like the one that disappeared last week, according to a health council report<\/a> covering 2018 to 2023. <\/p>\n From April 2022 to March 2023, there were 125 insurance claims across all age groups for medical transport flights totaling more than $3 million. Most claims were filed for people over 65 years old. <\/p>\n Johnette McNeil, a Bermuda real estate broker who knew the patient and family member on the flight that vanished, said the incident has stunned the local community, where air ambulance usage is relatively common, but accidents are extremely rare.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have been getting air ambulances \u2026 for decades,\u201d McNeil said. \u201cThere\u2019s never been any issues, I believe.\u201d<\/p>\n Jonathan Saltzman and Jeremiah Manion of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Bryan Hecht contributed to this report.<\/p>\n Allyson Chiu can be reached at allyson.chiu@globe.com<\/a>. Follow her on X @_allysonchiu<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Darren](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/MCQEIALCOK7JQ2ERZAT2NQUYIA.jpg\")
Darren Glasford outside the Bermuda Aquarium on May 1.Darren Glasford<\/p>\n