Building modern, resilient, and equitable healthcare system 

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Recent concerns about the state of Jamaica’s hospital infrastructure must not be dismissed. They reflect a real and long-standing challenge. Many of the main public hospitals were built before Independence, and others, though expanded over time, are now being asked to serve populations and medical needs far beyond what their original designs contemplated.

It is also true that a major public hospital hasn’t been built from the ground up in more than two decades. The last such major development was the new May Pen Hospital structure, officially opened in 1997. That gap is precisely why the current hospital infrastructure programme is structural, necessary, and long overdue.

The ministry fully accepts that modern healthcare cannot be delivered on outdated infrastructure alone. That is why the present plan focuses both on restoring existing national assets and adding new capacities where population growth and service demand are greatest.

In western Jamaica, the rehabilitation of Cornwall Regional Hospital is now nearing completion, with the facility expected to return as one of the country’s most advanced public hospitals. Alongside it, the Western Child and Adolescent Hospital will add dedicated paediatric and adolescent capacity, reducing pressure on Bustamante Hospital for Children and improving access for families outside Kingston.

In St Catherine, the Spanish Town Hospital redevelopment is also advancing, with a new six-storey wing scheduled for completion by April 2027. This will add beds, modern diagnostic services, operating theatres, outpatient capacity, and improved emergency care for one of Jamaica’s fastest-growing parishes.

Work is now underway to modernise the University Hospital of the West Indies through a new six-storey medical facility. The Government has also announced plans for the redevelopment of Kingston Public Hospital, and for a new Type C hospital at Bernard Lodge to serve the wider Portmore area.

These projects will not erase every problem overnight. People are right to expect more beds, a shorter wait, better maintenance, modern equipment, and a more dignified experience for patients and staff. But the country should also recognise that a serious rebuilding programme is now in motion.

The ministry acknowledges the infrastructure deficit, understands the public’s impatience, and is acting through a phased national plan to build a health system that is more modern, resilient, and equitable for the people.

THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND WELLNESS