CRH admin block reopens

The administrative block at Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) has been reopened, eight years after it was shuttered to facilitate rehabilitation and redevelopment of the St James-based facility.

CRH, the only Type A hospital serving western Jamaica, has been undergoing extensive repairs since noxious fumes forced the evacuation of services from the hospital's first three floors.

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton said work on the facility is set for completion in the first quarter of 2026. The extensive repairs and overhaul of the hospital is expected to cost $23.5 billion.

"The rehabilitation of CRH has been a long journey, peppered by setbacks and uncertainties, but we have persisted and are on the final stretch," Tufton said Thursday at a ceremony for the reopening of the administrative block.

Despite the reopening, the parliamentary opposition is not singing the praises of the government.

Senator Janice Allen, the People's National Party (PNP) standard bearer for St James Central, said opening of an administrative wing does nothing to restore the critical services patients have been waiting for years.

"After eight years and a cost jump from $2 billion to $26 billion, what the people of western Jamaica deserve is healthcare, not headlines," Allen said.

"What western Jamaica needs is beds, staffed wards, and access to quality care -- not PR campaigns," she added.