May Pen, Mandeville hospitals to be upgraded

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton says five hospitals have been shortlisted for upgrading over the next three to five years, with loan funding of US$50 million from the Inter-American Development Bank.

Among the institutions are the May Pen Hospital in Clarendon and the Mandeville Regional Hospital in Manchester. The other three are the Kingston Public Hospital, the Spanish Town Hospital and the St Ann's Bay Hospital.

Dr Tufton said they were identified for inclusion in a study that was conducted on behalf of the Government by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).

UNOPS is the United Nations (UN) operational arm, dedicated to implementing projects for the UN System, international financial institutions, governments, and other partners around the world.

"The intention of upgrading these facilities [is] to deal with the demand for inpatient care, specialist treatment and surgeries," he said.

Dr Tufton said come next year, "you will begin to see ground being broken for some of those developments, in keeping with our commitment to modernise our public health infrastructure".

The minister also reiterated that construction of the proposed Western Children's Hospital in St James, which forms part of the health sector's modernisation thrust, is scheduled to commence by March 2019.

The 220-bed facility, which will also cater to adolescents, is being built on the compound of the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay with US$36.16 million (250 million RMB), which has been provided by the government of the People's Republic of China to fund this and other projects to be agreed on with Jamaica.