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Can we depend on Jamaica’s healthcare facilities?

Published:Saturday | March 6, 2021 | 12:10 AM

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Can we truly depend on healthcare facilities to save our lives when we need them the most, or will we be turned away because there are “no beds available”? When will the slackness associated with the healthcare facilities be taken up in hand, how many more will have to die because of negligence before a change is made?

First, it was Jodian Fearon, a young lady who was robbed blindly of her life on a hospital floor, and her right to proper healthcare assistance was not met, because of the lack of human and material resources. Almost a year later, 17-year-old Jalisa McGowan died from an asthma attack in the waiting room of a hospital that reportedly refused to come to her assistance because no bed was available and a medical professional reportedly refused to administer aid because they did not want to get in “trouble”.

Where have the love and passion for the job of medical workers gone, that it could be okay to watch a child die? Is it not the duty of medical assistants to put the patient first? It seems as if it was not so in these tragic cases. How many more tears must be shed by mothers, seeking assistance for their children?

I do not expect perfection from our leaders, but I do expect progress. The people of Jamaica need both material and human resources to be increased. An extra bed or two could have saved the lives of both ladies. What is being done to aid the people of this country when it comes on to health care? Even without the pandemic individuals are dying rapidly due to the lack of assistance and resources when they have to use healthcare units. A change must be made; our lives matter too.

NATASHA LEVY

nlevyru@gmail.com