Health Ministry Implements Contingency Plan Following End of Cuba Technical Cooperation Agreement

The Ministry of Health and Wellness will introduce short-term interventions to maintain health service delivery following the recent conclusion of the Technical Cooperation agreement between the Government of Jamaica and the Government of Cuba.

Addressing a press briefing on Monday (March 9), Portfolio Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, advised that regional health authorities will activate contingency measures to maintain critical services.

“That’s our short-term surge plan, which includes revision of duty rosters, increased use of overtime and extended work hours. This happens routinely when we have a surge in cases. So, if you have a spike in the flu season or the dengue season, you have more demand on the system, then we implement a surge plan. So, it’s not a new thing and given the possibility of fallout from Cuban healthcare workers in particular areas, we will trigger that plan, which we have a lot of experience in doing,” he explained.

Dr. Tufton noted that the measures will also include redeployment of staff from low-demand areas to higher-demand areas, increased engagement of sessional staff and use of special triage protocols.

“We do have a plan around how we deal with triaging when there’s overcrowding and the regions have been asked to trigger that approach,” he said.

The Minister shared that another short-term measure that is being discussed for implementation is the outsourcing of some services through the private sector, for which Cabinet has given approval.

There are 260 Cuban health professionals currently working within Jamaica’s public health system.

They are engaged as follows – South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA), 97; Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA), 50; Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA), 33; University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), 31; St. Joseph’s Hospital Eye Care Programme, 18; National Public Health Laboratory, 7; and Bellevue Hospital, 1.