More work to start at CRH this week - Tufton

WESTERN BUREAU:

As restorative work continues at the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH), in Montego Bay, Health Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, says that work will begin this week to address the issue of moisture in the Type A facility's roof, which led to the mould that contributed to the hospital's air-quality issues.

Dr Tufton made the announcement following a tour of two wards at the Mt Salem-based hospital last week, where 44 bed spaces were recently added to facilitate patients awaiting treatment. An additional 36 bed spaces are to be installed at a later date to increase the hospital's bed count to 300.

During a brief address, Tufton said the hospital's roof will be sealed off to facilitate its restoration work, as the collection of moisture in the roof is believed to have contributed to the growth of mould inside the hospital.

"The last report I got suggests that in a week or so, we will see some tangible work starting on the main building, and you'll see some work taking place on the roof, because we're now at the stage where the work on the roof will commence in short order," said Tufton.

"The roof, which is quite large, is where we feel that a lot of the challenges of moisture in the building and the consequential issues with mould were. The roof is therefore going to be sealed, and that work will commence in short order, so you will see some activities there as a starting point to the other tangible work to take place," added the health minister.

Tufton also noted that work will begin to replace the CRH's ventilation system, which was affected by the noxious fumes that forced the relocation of several hospital services last January.

"The old ventilation system which is now in the building will be extracted and disposed of, and there are other such pieces of infrastructure that will have to be extracted and disposed of in a way that does not cross-contaminate the rest of the location," said Tufton.

In August, an independent oversight body appointed by Tufton estimated that the CRH should be fully operational by August 2019.