New Administrative Building for St. Ann Health Department

Ground was officially broken for the construction of a new administrative building for the St. Ann Health Department in St. Ann’s Bay, on July 14.

The two-storey building, which will house all the necessary administrative services, is to be constructed at a cost of close to $400 million, funded by the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the National Health Fund (NHF).

A sum of $35 million of the money will be used to purchase furniture and equipment for the facility.

The new structure is being erected, as the current administrative building can no longer adequately accommodate staff and carry out all the necessary functions.

Work on the new building is expected to be completed in the next 10 months by DT Brown Construction Ltd.

At the ceremony, Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, lauded the public health team in St. Ann for their leadership in the region.

Dr. Tufton said that at the end of the process it is expected that the building will be a first-class facility that will cater to the department’s more than 400 members of staff .

He argued that people must begin to recognise health beyond the structures of only hospitals and health centres, as administrative buildings also form an important part of the health process.

“We oftentimes recognise health in the context of hospitals and health centres. A lot of times we don’t spend enough time on recognising the enabling infrastructural environment, starting with the people who have to make it work,” the Minister said.

Every time you send out a team, they must plan a lot before they go out; they must be motivated to go out. They must have an environment where they can think through the process, report back on the process, tabulate, organise and give information for us to make the right targeted decisions. So, we must see this ground-breaking as a critical part in the enabling environment for health response, in this case, in the parish of St. Ann,” he added.

For her part, Regional Director of the Northeast Regional Health Authority (NERHA), Fabia Lamm, noted that the St. Ann Health Department provides management and administrative services to the five health districts in the parish, which have a combined population of over 174,000 persons.

Ms. Lamm said the facility has a staff complement of 420, 80 of whom are working in the current administrative building; however, 20 employees are displaced.

“We are especially pleased that this project is being launched during our celebration of Healthcare Workers Appreciation Month, thus concretising our commitment to the well-being of our healthcare workers.”