St Ann's Bay Hospital gets $329 million high-dependency unit
Published:Saturday | June 6, 2020 | 9:30 AM
Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, on Friday officially opened the $329-million Programme for the Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality (PROMAC) High-Dependency Unit (HDU) building at the St Ann's Bay Hospital.
The new facility, made possible through funding by the European Union (EU), will improve the quality of care available for scores of critically ill neonates and high-risk pregnant women in St Ann.
It includes isolation suites, maternal HDU and maternal isolation suites, as well as other specialised units and equipment, geared towards reducing Jamaica’s child mortality and maternal mortality ratio.
In his address, Tufton lauded the EU for their generosity and critical support to construct the infrastructure that will strengthen Jamaica’s capacity to respond to an important cause.
“It strengthens our capacity to respond in a way that builds on the achievements that we have had and secures and reinforces the resilience that we should be seeking as we confront public health challenges,” he outlined.
Tufton indicated that the hospital is the first of five institutions in the country where an HDU infrastructure will be established.
“The other hospitals that will benefit are Victoria Jubilee Hospital, Spanish Town Hospital, Bustamante Hospital for Children and the Cornwall Regional Hospital. We expect that thousands of Jamaicans, mother and child, will benefit from these facilities in the years to come,” he said.
For her part, Head of the EU Delegation to Jamaica, Ambassador Malgorzata Wasilewska, said she is confident that the PROMAC HDU facility will be of significant benefit to pregnant women and newborn babies locally.
“This process was completed in a very timely and effective manner. I look forwards to us opening the other centres,” she said.
JIS News
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