Greater access to healthcare for Clarendon residents

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr the Honourable Christopher Tufton, says the Government has made progress in improving access to healthcare for residents of Clarendon.

“Over the last five years we have re-established Chapelton Community Hospital, which was closed and is now back into operation. Now we have a pharmacy, clinic services and accident and emergency,” he pointed out.

He noted that there is also in-patient care at the facility, and the operating theatre is being refurbished and is scheduled for reopening in another two months.

Tufton further cited improved services at Lionel Town Hospital.

“We have added more space, equipment and there are now close to 16 doctors, up from less than half that number five years ago. There are a lot more possibilities for treatment and ease of access in Lionel Town,” he pointed out.

Turning to the May Pen Hospital, the Minister said there is a development plan for the facility, which will be unveiled shortly.

“Work has started and we just approved work for the perimeter fencing to secure the property. We are in the final stages of the development model to add more space. Recently, we unveiled the patient records digitisation [Electronic Health Records (EHR)], making it easier to register, store data and recall it for easier treatment of patients,” he said.

The EHR system has also been implemented at the May West and Mocho health centres in the parish.

The Ministry will also be expanding and building out health centres in and around the town of the Clarendon capital, giving residents easier access to care.

Dr. Tufton was speaking during a recent tour of the Haematology-Oncology Unit at the Mandeville Hospital in Manchester, where he cited developments in the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA), which covers the parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth.

Dr. Tufton commended SRHA for leading the process to improve access to care, noting that there is a lot more that needs to be done.

He said there are plans to procure a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine and a computerised tomography scanner for Mandeville Hospital.

The Haematology/Oncology Unit in Mandeville was opened in August 2023, with five patients.

Today, close to 600 patients use the facility, easing the burden on residents who had to travel to Kingston and St James for treatment.

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