Retreat Health Centre Upgraded

Retreat Health Centre in St. Mary has been upgraded at a cost of $3.5 million, under the Health and Wellness Ministry’s ‘Operation Refresh’.

The facility was handed over by Portfolio Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, on Friday (June 20).

The scope of work included the installation of proper signage, air conditioning, wheelchair ramps, increased water storage capacity, repairs to perimeter fencing, painting and improvement in the aesthetics.

“The days of having broken-down health facilities where you go in and it’s hot and the doctors have a little cubicle that [they] cannot turn in and the staff do not have a little kitchenette to have their lunch, a microwave to heat up their food [and] a refrigerator to cool their drink and have a glass of water… are long gone. And, to the extent that they still exist, we have to change it,” the Minister said.

He underscored that this is the essence of ‘Operation Refresh’ and that the programme aims to transform the nation’s Primary Health Care facilities, “where everybody – staff and patient – feels a sense of renewal”.

Illustrating, he recalled that a Parish Health Officer in St. Ann reported a 20 per cent jump in attendance at a refreshed facility in that parish.

“Twenty per cent more people, because people want to feel respected; they want to feel decent; they want to feel like they are coming to something that is going to help them, and looks sometimes can be a major contributor to how people view the quality of service,” the Minister said.

Arguing that Primary Health Care reform is “the bedrock of public health”, Dr. Tufton indicated that a major aim of ‘Operation Refresh’ is to alleviate the demand being placed on the country’s 24 hospitals.

Dubbing the programme a ‘big policy success’, Dr. Tufton reported that over the last five years, there have been 300,000 more visits to health centres or clinics and 250,000 fewer visits to hospitals.

To this end, he told the residents of Retreat and its environs: “Make this your first stop. Use the facility; don’t underestimate the service that can be provided.”

The Minister also called on the staff at the Retreat Health Centre to exude courtesy in their delivery of service.

Remarks were also brought by Member of Parliament for St. Mary Western, Robert Montague, who applauded the Government’s level of investment in the health services in the constituency.

“All my health centres in Western St Mary, if they have not yet been upgraded, they are about to be upgraded… and, we have seen improvements,” Mr. Montague said.