Stony Hill Health Centre to be Renovated

The Ministry of Health, in partnership with the National Health Fund (NHF), has broken ground at the Stony Hill Health Centre in St. Andrew to upgrade the facility at a cost of $59 million.

The funding is being provided by the NHF through its Institutional Benefits Programme to improve health service delivery to residents of Stony Hill and surrounding communities, including Parke Road, Golden Spring, Temple Hall, Essex Hall, Content, Mount Airy, Mount Pleasant, Iron River, Boon Hall, Mount Prospect, New Gardens, Mount James, Hall’s Green, Arthur Leon Drive and Mount Friendship.

At the ceremony on Monday (July 16), Minister of Health, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, not only thanked the NHF for its commitment but stated that the Government intends to renovate more clinics across the island in similar partnerships.

“Today, we gather here at Stony Hill to continue a mandate that, for us, is absolutely fundamental. We will continue this approach. We have several others [health centres] that we will do in the years to come,” Dr. Tufton said.

He added that the NHF’s contribution will go a far way, as approximately 2,000 patients benefit from services at the Centre each month, and these persons will continue to benefit when the new infrastructure is constructed.

“We believe this is needed. It is an important part of the service to the people of this community,” the Minister said.

Dr. Tufton said the Government is working towards keeping the doors of all health centres across the island open, because they help tremedously with easing the pressure on hospitals across the island.

“We have to start by giving back credibility to the health centres, and that’s what the renovation is about. It is to say, ‘This is an important piece of infrastructure served by important public health officials’, and we need the community to support it to the maximum to get the full benefits at the preventative level,” he said.

In his address, Chief Executive Officer of the NHF, Everton Anderson, said his organisation is pleased to undertake this 12-month project.

“The National Health Fund has been moving aggressively towards an expansion of access to quality services for Jamaicans. There is no doubt that upon completion of this project, in the next 12 months, the residents and surrounding communities of Stony Hill will benefit tremendously from the renovation efforts,” Mr. Anderson said.

He added that he hopes the renovated building, which will get an upgraded sewerage infrastructure; new consultation rooms, nebulisation and rehydration areas, will help with improving the standards of the communities in Stony Hill.

“Let us continue to work together to bring fresh insights and feasible solutions to the table to improve healthcare delivery for the residents here in Stony Hill, in particular, and the nation in general,” he said.