Three-Phase Health Sector Recovery Plan Well Underway

The Ministry of Health and Wellness is moving forward with its three-phase plan for the recovery and rebuilding of the country’s health sector following the impact of Hurricane Melissa.

Phase one, which is being executed over three months, is focused on relief and restoration of services.

“It involves rapid assessment, repair and mobilisation of basic services, mass environmental health mitigation actions, addressing staff welfare, and engaging additional human resources to give support to emergencies,” said portfolio Minister, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton.

The Minister, who was addressing a recent virtual town hall hosted by the Jamaican Embassy in Washington DC, said that this phase of the recovery plan is expected to continue through December.

“We are well on the way in terms of bringing in non-governmental organisations and external partners, providing support on the ground like field hospitals, and we have also done the staff assessments and looked at the environmental migration measures. So, phase one is in full throttle,” he said.

He noted that phase two will involve longer-term repairs to buildings and equipment that have been damaged and get facilities back to full operations, while continuing to push the environmental and resilient plan.

“We anticipate a four to 12-month period, starting in the early new year, where that phase two will kick in. So ,while we are providing the services, we’re also enhancing the mechanism to build back stronger and to have a more resilient system,” Dr. Tufton said.

He noted that phase three is the reconstruction phase. “That’s a longer-term phase. That’s when we decide things like ‘should we relocate the hospital at Black River, Noel Holmes or Falmouth from the coastline where it is to somewhere else? How do we construct these hospitals? How do we construct these health centres for more long-term resilience? So those are the three phases as part of the plan that we have developed and we are moving forward,” Dr. Tufton said.

He informed that services have been restored services to 73 per cent of the 101 health centres in the western parishes that suffered substantial damage during the passage of Hurricane Melissa. Thirteen per cent are providing partial services, 14 per cent were badly damaged and are closed.

As it relates to hospitals, Noel Homes in Hanover suffered 70 per cent damage, Cornwall Regional Hospital, St. James, 50 per cent; Falmouth Hospital in Trelawny, 70 per cent; while the Black River Hospital in St. Elizabeth “was damaged to the extent of being totally wiped out” Dr. Tufton said.

“The damage means roof damage and the contents within the building, which would include diagnostic equipment, beds, and all the other contents within the building. Once the roof went, then many other things went. So, substantial damage to those five parishes”, he pointed out.

He said that St. Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital in St. Ann, while not located in one of the most severely-impacted parishes, suffered 30 per cent damage.
Minister Tufton noted that staff were also impacted by the storm.

“Doctors, nurses, porters… lost roof, personal possessions, and at the same time, they are front-line workers,” he said, noting that support services are being provided for personnel.