Health Centres Upgraded To Climate-Smart Facilities

Nine of 12 healthcare facilities that were upgraded under the Strengthening Health Care Facilities in the Caribbean or ‘Smart’ Project have been officially handed over to the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

The handover took place during a recent ceremony at the newly upgraded St. Ann’s Bay Health Centre in St. Ann.

The retrofitted facilities, which were completed last year, are the Gayle, Darliston, Windward Road, Yallahs, Sydenham, Norman Gardens, Cumberland Road, St Ann’s Bay and Albert Town health centres.

The other facilities to be upgraded are the Port Antonio, Santa Cruz and Mandeville health centres.

The initiative is funded by UKaid through its Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in the Caribbean, and implemented by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in collaboration with the ministries of health of the selected countries. The project is being replicated in six other countries across the Caribbean – Dominica, St Lucia, Grenada, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, Belize and Guyana.

According to the PAHO website, of the overall funding for the project, which stands at £46.3 million, Jamaica received £8million.

The initiative, which started implementation in Jamaica in 2016 and is set for completion by the close of this year, is aimed at boosting climate-change resilience at these facilities.

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. The Hon. Christopher Tufton, in his address at the handover ceremony, lauded the initiative, noting that the project gives Jamaicans the opportunity to rethink how the country’s health infrastructure is built, especially with the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Minister said, “COVID has been the greatest opportunity for review, for renewal and, indeed, to rebuild in over 100 years”.

Meanwhile British High Commissioner to Jamaica, Her Excellency Judith Slater, noted that she is “proud that the UK has funded these upgrades” to the health facilities.

She also said that in a region like the Caribbean that is hit with natural hazards almost every year, it is critical to have healthcare facilities that are capable of handling emergencies in any given situation.