Health Minister Declares Zero Tolerance for Funeral Home Solicitation in Hospitals 

By Val Matthias. Updated 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, September 9, 2026, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4). 

Minister of Health, Wellness, Environmental Health and Energy, Daniel Cummings, has strongly condemned what he described as the inappropriate practice of funeral homes and their representative’s conducting business on hospital premises.

Speaking to SVGTV News, the minister said hospitals, clinics and polyclinics are places dedicated to caring for the living and should not be used by funeral agencies to market their services or make arrangements with patients and their families.

Cummings said the government has adopted a zero-tolerance approach to the issue and warned that funeral homes will not be permitted to advertise or solicit business within public healthcare facilities.

“We are not allowing any funeral home, not any, to advertise in our hospitals,” the minister said. “We are not allowing staff of the funeral home to go and harass sick people about burial arrangements. Those arrangements are for the family of the hospital patients, not for the patients. Keep those things out of the hospital.” 

The minister also issued a clear warning to healthcare workers, stating that no member of staff within the public health system should be associated with or work on behalf of funeral agencies while employed at hospitals, clinics or polyclinics.

“No member of staff of the hospital services, whether it be the main hospital or any of the other hospitals or the clinics or polyclinics, no member of staff of this ministry must be associated with or working with any funeral home,” Cummings said. 

He said healthcare professionals are employed to provide care and support to patients and should not become involved in funeral-related business while carrying out their duties.

According to the minister, any attempt by funeral agencies to use hospital staff as agents to secure clients will not be tolerated.

“Our staff have been advised, and it will be enforced. Don’t use the staff of our hospitals as your agents and our employees. It is not part of their job, and it will not be permissible,” he said. 

Cummings argued that such practices raise serious ethical concerns and could undermine confidence in the healthcare system.

“It is a breach of ethics to have people who should be looking after one’s health, haggling and being paid to get one funeral home versus the next,” he said. “It’s as if you can’t wait for the person to die to get the job.” 

The minister said the primary purpose of hospitals is to provide treatment, care and hope to patients and their families, not to facilitate commercial activities linked to death.

“My tolerance for this is zero. The hospitals and clinics are about dealing with the living. We don’t deal with the dead,” Cummings declared. 

While acknowledging the important role funeral homes play in society, the minister said there is an appropriate time and place for funeral arrangements to be discussed. He suggested that any marketing or business engagement by funeral agencies should take place outside healthcare facilities and away from patients receiving treatment.

Cummings is now calling on funeral agencies and their employees to respect the rules governing hospital compounds and to uphold professional and ethical standards when conducting their business.

His message to the industry was unequivocal, hospitals must remain places of healing, where the focus is on helping patients recover, not on securing future funeral arrangements.

END