More Corporate Entities Urged to Adopt St. Catherine Clinics
By: May 24, 2018 ,The Key Point:
The Facts
- The programme, being undertaken through support from the United Kingdom (UK) Diaspora, which has already donated $5 million towards the initiative, aims to improve the general ambience of the island’s primary-care facilities and also address some of their basic resource needs.
- Miss Needham told JIS News that the Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS) has indicated its intention to adopt the St. Jago Park Health Centre, while employees of Sagicor Foundation focused their efforts on improving the environment at the Christian Pen Health Centre on Labour Day (May 23).
The Full Story
Parish Manager for St. Catherine Health Services, Beverley Needham, is calling for more corporate bodies to partner with the entity to upgrade health centres in the parish under the Health Ministry’s Adopt-a-Clinic initiative.
The programme, being undertaken through support from the United Kingdom (UK) Diaspora, which has already donated $5 million towards the initiative, aims to improve the general ambience of the island’s primary-care facilities and also address some of their basic resource needs.
Miss Needham told JIS News that the Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS) has indicated its intention to adopt the St. Jago Park Health Centre, while employees of Sagicor Foundation focused their efforts on improving the environment at the Christian Pen Health Centre on Labour Day (May 23).
She is hoping that more individuals and entities will come on board.
“As things progress, we expect more and more persons to buy into the programme of adopting a clinic in their area,” she said.
Miss Needham, who was at the national Labour Day project at the Cumberland Road Health Centre, welcomed the renovations undertaken at the facility located at 114 Brunswick Avenue in Spanish Town.
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, and Minister of Culture, Gender Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, led more than 190 volunteers in carrying out improvements at the health centre.
Work involved roof repairs; upgrading of bathrooms, including installation of new basins and toilets; mounting kitchen cupboards; painting; and general cleaning and beautification.
Apart from the general refurbishing works, Miss Needham said that the facility is expected to receive items such as cribs, bassinets, fans and other equipment.
Cumberland Road Health Centre serves a population of approximately 40,000 residents and provides healthcare services to about 12,000 persons per year.
Miss Needham pointed to the need for additional space to enable the facility to offer curative services every day rather than the current two days per week.
She pointed out that daily curative services at the health centre would assist in “reducing the burden of patients who show up in the emergency room at the Spanish Town Hospital”.
St. Catherine Health Services has responsibility for the 26 health centres within the parish as well as the Linstead and Spanish Town hospitals.