St. James Custos Impressed with Cornwall Regional Hospital Redevelopment

Custos of St. James, Bishop the Hon. Conrad Pitkin, has expressed satisfaction with the Cornwall Regional Hospital redevelopment project.

Bishop Pitkin, who was accompanied by a team of Justices of the Peace (JPs) on a tour of the facility in Montego Bay on July 23, told JIS News that he was “impressed” with the comprehensive works being undertaken.

“We were impressed when we walked through the administrative section and saw the modern facilities that are there. I think that’s the kind of facility that we need for our health workers in Jamaica,” he noted.

“The work is extensive and it is evident that when this project is completed, Western Jamaica will see a brand-new hospital,” he said.

In addition to the redeveloped administrative section, the tour included areas such as the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department.

Custos Pitkin noted the significant increase in bed space for adults.

“The encouraging thing is that 430 rooms will be only for adults. Previously, 300 plus were for both children and adults. And, with the [neighbouring] Western Children [and Adolescent] Hospital to have over 200 beds, that will take off a lot of burden off the main hospital,” he pointed out.

The Custos said that upon completion, the redeveloped hospital will enhance healthcare delivery for residents of Western Jamaica.

“We hope that, sooner than later, we will be able to see our citizens, not just from St. James but from Western Jamaica, being able to be housed in what I am going to call the new facilities, because that’s exactly what it’s going to look like,” he said.

Project Manager for the Cornwall Regional Redevelopment Project, Vivian Gordon, who provided updates on the operating theatres, said the new design for the spaces included hygienic and easily cleaned cladding and finishing materials.

He said that the design took into consideration future needs and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One of the big things that we learned coming out of COVID is how to clean these spaces and a lot of the detailing that has been done has been derived from that experience. So, we are getting the new approach to how they are to be designed,” Mr. Gordon explained.