Montego Bay Sports Complex Temporary Site for Catherine Hall Health Centre

In a few weeks, the now seemingly dormant Montego Bay Sports Complex located in Catherine Hall, will come alive as services of the Catherine Hall Health Centre will be temporarily relocated to the sporting facility to accommodate infrastructural works at the clinic.

The decision was taken by the St James Municipal Corporation which manages the Stadium after a request was made by St James Public Health Department.

Mayor of Montego Bay, and Chairman of the St. James Municipal Corporation, Councillor Leeroy Williams says the Corporation is pleased to provide relief to the Health Centre to ensure they are able to retain their full complement of health services.

“We have a longstanding relationship with the St. James Public Health Department and therefore we did not hesitate when the request was made. It makes logistical sense to house the clinic at the stadium which is still in close proximity to the community of those it most serves,” stated Mayor Williams.

The Mayor also believes that the facility will provide more space to ensure adherence to Covid-19 protocols, particularly social distancing.

“The impact of covid-19 on our communities is debilitating. Anything that we can do to assist the Health department must be done as we continue working with the community in developing practical solutions,” added the Mayor.

Preliminary logistics planning has already commenced by St James Municipal Corporation as staff members are now in the process of preparing sections of the grand stand where the clinic will be housed.

Acting Parish Manager of Public Health, Lennox Wallace welcomes the partnership and says in a few days his staff will visit the facility to finalize relocation plans.

“The Public Health Department is really grateful for the partnership with the St James Municipal Corporation, which over the past 27 years, has always sought to work closely with us to facilitate and maintain public health in the parish. Likewise, they did not hesitate to provide the necessary assistance and granting us space at the stadium.”

Full relocation is expected to be completed by the ending of December 2020 and is expected to last until March 2021. During the period, the National Health Fund is slated to carry out an expansion rehabilitation project at the Catherine Hall Health Centre with the scope of work to include the addition of new medical offices and a new waiting area, complimented by the installation of generator plants.