This past May, the Health Professions Act was passed in the Bahamas. The legislation deals with all the health care professions outside of the medical profession, including chiropractic, acupuncture, podiatry, optometry, psychologists and physical therapists.
The Bahamas, an archipelago nation of some 700 islands, of which 40 are populated, and where 250,000 people reside, is not exactly overpopulated with DCs. There are fewer chiropractors in the Bahamas than there are fingers on your hands, but those few have applied for their "personal" licenses. This is the result of the Health Professionals Clinic Act, which requires every clinic to apply for a license each year and undergo a health department inspection. The DCs are awaiting "approval" of their licenses, according to Susan Donald,DC, who practices in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas.
The Bahamas became an "independent" nation in 1973. The nation is governed by a prime minister (Hubert Alexander Ingraham) and has a bicameral legislature consisting of a 16-seat Senate and a 49-seat House of Assembly. But the nation is still part of the British Commonwealth, and so Queen Elizabeth II holds the title of chief of state. Her representative to the Bahamas is Governor General Sir Orville Turnquest, no less. The governor general appoints the prime minister and deputy prime minister. The cabinet is appointed by the governor general on the PM's recommendations, and there are no elections.
The capital and principal city is Nassau, on New Providence Island. The Turks and Caicos Islands, although geographically part of the archipelago, have been separately administered by Great Britain since 1848.
