Residents Welcome Improved Services Offered At Kenneth Baugh Health Centre

Residents are pleased with improved health services being offered at the Kenneth Baugh Health Centre in Point Hill, St. Catherine.

The facility, formerly the Point Hill Health Centre, has been renamed in honour of the late Dr. Kenneth Baugh, who served as Minister of Health from 1980 to 1989, and Member of Parliament for West Central St. Catherine from 2002 to 2016.

It was upgraded at a cost of $42 million through funding from the National Health Fund (NHF) and offers a number of services, including curative, maternal and child health, dental, family planning, mental health, pap smear and laboratory.  Pharmacy services will be added shortly.

Treasurer of the Point Hill Community Development Committee, Carlton Duhaney, says the facility is wonderful.

“We can say thanks for what has happened. It is great progress that has been made to offer services to the community,” he says.

Youth leader from the community of Pusey, Kemeisha Leslie, says they are happy for the upgraded centre.

“We have been waiting for a long time. We are proud, and from the looks of everything, this was well needed, and we will make great use of it,” she tells JIS News.

Medical Officer of Health at the St. Catherine Health Department, Dr. Francia Prosper-Chen, shares with JIS News that prior to the upgrading, the old building was falling apart.

“It is very pleasing for us now that we can offer the service in a facility with all the amenities. Mothers can come, persons who are having mental health challenges can come; it is really wonderful for us,” she says.

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, who is also the Member of Parliament for the constituency, says he and the community residents have welcomed the new centre, which will offer improved service.

Dr. Tufton tells JIS News that he is pleased that the centre is named in honour of Dr. Baugh.

“We knew him to be a doctor and a gentleman, who championed primary healthcare, which is significant at this facility. He dedicated his life to public service,” the Minister says.

Son of the late Member of Parliament, Gregory Baugh, says his family is elated that there is a “wonderful health centre” to serve the people of the various communities.

Noting that his father served with distinction and compassion, Mr. Baugh says that due to his “genuine love and his unbiased respect for everyone”, it made him an excellent doctor who never said no to any “medical emergency”.

“A wise counsellor and nation builder, this gesture is a gift that will ensure that the spirit and legacy of Dr. Baugh will live on in the service that it will provide to many. This health centre gives us comfort to know that service to the people, whom he loved, will continue in such a fitting way,” Mr. Baugh tells JIS News.

Retired Principal of the Garden Hill Primary School, and former Councillor for the Point Hill Division, Elkanah Rhule, tells JIS News that more than 50 years ago, he was present when the later former Minister of Health, Herbert Wellesley Eldemire, opened the first health centre, and he is extremely pleased that it is now able to offer improved services to the residents.

Mr. Rhule says it is a fitting tribute to name the facility in honour of Dr. Baugh, because he served the people unselfishly.

Chief Executive Officer of the NHF, Everton Anderson, says it was a “good move” to build the centre, as it is “representative of what Dr. Baugh was about”.

He notes that the agency is also finalising plans to install a pharmacy solution for the persons who access the services.

“Projects like this make our jobs worth doing,” Mr. Anderson tells JIS News.