Health and Wellness Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, says Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) and the Western Children’s and Adolescent’s Hospital in Montego Bay, St. James, are poised to be the most modern public health facilities in the Caribbean.

“When [renovations at] Cornwall Regional Hospital [are] finished and [the facility is] restored with 450 beds, and [when] the Western Children and Adolescent Hospital is finished [and outfitted] with 220 beds, you are going to have, in the parish of St. James, the largest number of beds on a hospital compound in the country [and] in the Caribbean,” Dr. Tufton outlined.

He was speaking at the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ St. James Town Hall Meeting at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre last Thursday (February 6).

Dr. Tufton noted that the institutions will offer all the requisite specialist services to meet the healthcare needs of children and adults, at one location.

“[Additionally], the Western Children and Adolescent Hospital is going to be the only one in the region that offers pediatric services like the Bustamante Hospital for Children (12 years old or younger) as well as adolescent services (12-18 years old.) It is going to be the only such facility in the region, not just Jamaica; and it’s going to come with operating theatres, brand new facilities, equipment and more,” he pointed out.

Dr. Tufton urges the citizens of western Jamaica to continue to exercise patience as the Government works with its partners to get both hospitals in operation in the shortest possible time, in order to improve public healthcare service delivery.

“We appreciate the concerns and the patience that you [the public] have exercised to date. But we are building and renewing our health services in the parish, and Cornwall Regional Hospital is going to be a significant addition. Just give us some time to get it done,” Dr. Tufton stated.

The forum was the second in a series of islandwide town hall meetings on the ‘Status of Health’.

It provided an update on developments within St. James and the wider western Jamaica area, as well as activities being employed in the region in response to Dengue and the novel Coronavirus.