PM Welcomes Private Hospital in Portmore

Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has commended the investment in the establishment of a private hospital in Portmore, St. Catherine, that will provide a range of advanced medical services to the residents of the municipality.

The Tensie Mae Robinson Medical Complex, located at 9 Cookson Pen on the Braeton Main Road, is a 23-bed facility owned by investor Dwight Robinson.

It offers cutting-edge diagnostic imaging services such as computed tomography (CT) scan, X-ray, mammography and ultrasound, and surgical specialties such as neurology, general surgery, and gynaecology.

The hospital, which is named in honour of Mr. Robinson’s mother, has three fully equipped operating theatres, a high-dependency unit, a pharmacy, and an accident and emergency area that will facilitate walk-in patients.

“I’m very impressed with what I have seen so far,” Dr. Holness said, during a tour of the facility on Wednesday (April 16).

“From my layman’s perspective, the facilities seem to be well-appointed and appropriate for the provision of high-quality healthcare. I must commend Mr. Robinson and his team for the idea and the investment. It’s a big risk to put up a structure like this, but I’m happy that there is private initiative in healthcare,” he added.

Dr. Holness acknowledged the importance of adequate access to healthcare for the residents of Portmore, which is home to more than 200,000 people.

“While this [facility] would not be novel, it is still worthy of commendation because the investment is in Portmore, the soon-to-be parish. There is a view that Portmore may be underserved with medical facilities, and so I’m happy to see that there is already private initiative to provide the service,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister reiterated the Government’s commitment to building a full-service public hospital in Portmore, on land already identified in the Bernard Lodge area.

“Of course, the development of a hospital is not something that happens overnight. Building hospitals is a very complex undertaking… [and] takes significant planning. So, I’m very happy to see that there are private projects already filling the gap,” he pointed out.

Mr. Robinson for his part, expressed a passion for healthcare, which he said, was born at the loss of his father at age 14.

He stated his gratitude to his friends and advisors, including Managing Director of Dwight’s Construction, Benton Woodbine, Member of Parliament for St. Mary Western, Robert Montague and Member of Parliament for St. Mary Central, Dr. Morais Guy, for their support.

With construction on the hospital almost complete, the owner and other stakeholders are awaiting inspections and subsequent approval from the Ministry of Health and Wellness to begin operations.