Plans for Negril hospital shelved

Seven years after announcing plans to build a hospital in the tourist resort Negril, hotelier and businessman Winston Wellington, who initiated the proposal, has abandoned the idea out of frustration.

According to Wellington, 100 acres were identified on the outskirts of Negril near Rhodes Hall High School, but the Government suggested lands in the hills and based on what he envisioned for the proposed facility, he felt this was not appropriate.

"I just felt as if I was being given the runaround, so I just wipe my hands from it," Winston Wellington told Western Star. "I was told that they needed that particular property for a major project, but look at it years later; nothing has happened."

A team was put in place to manage the 100-bed hospital, which would have accommodated both local and overseas doctors.

The facility would also include a 10-acre organic farm, and other amenities ideal for health tourism, to be funded and operated by Howard University in the US over a 10-year period.

The hospital should have been completed in the summer of 2014.

Jamaicans at home and abroad were also invited to donate to the cause, but Wellington told Western Star that every dollar has been returned to donors.

"I personally ensured that everyone who had given even a $25 was given back their contribution by cheque, while I lost US$100,000," he said.

Ian Hayles, member of Parliament for Western Hanover, where the proposed site would have been located, said that no compromise could be reached between the parties.

He also said that while a hospital for the Negril area is the right direction to go, he believes upgrading the Noel Holmes Hospital in the parish capital, Lucea, would solve the problem in the short term.

No compromise

"They wanted beachfront versus property across the road, and there was not a compromise; so yes, I believe the project is dead in the water," he said. "However, we are in need of a medical facility in Negril, and while I am aware of plans by others to bring their offerings here, this might not be an affordable solution to the ordinary Jamaican."

He said that statistically, most victims of major accidents die on their way to Lucea or Savannah-la-Mar.

"But with very little resources available, amid the Cornwall Regional Hospital issue and even plans for a children's hospital, I believe the best solution is to upgrade Noel Holmes Hospital," he said.

However, Wellington said a Canadian has expressed a desire to follow up on his vision and is now in talks with several key stakeholders to explore the possibilities.