Bartlett calls for trauma centre, resources for Falmouth hospital

WESTERN BUREAU:

Tourism minster Edmund Bartlett has joined in calls for an urgent upgrade of the Falmouth hospital’s resources given the increase in medical emergency cases due to traffic accidents, and its location in an area heavily frequented by international visitors to the island.

Bartlett voiced his concerns about the hospital last week after 22 workers in the tourism industry who sustained injuries in a traffic accident along the North Coast Highway, were taken to the hospital for treatment.

“The mortality that occurs along the strip from Laughlands (St Ann) to Montego Bay (St James) is probably more than anywhere else in the island, it is becoming a national crisis,” said Bartlett. “The Falmouth hospital is situated along a corridor that requires it to provide a variety of services. It is in a vital tourism area.

“More and more rooms are being built in the area, the pier brings in thousands of visitors ... the hospital should be so equipped to provide vital emergency care. I can single out that there is a need for a trauma centre. I plan to discuss the Falmouth hospital with health minister Christopher Tufton,” said Bartlett.

Businessman Kenneth Grant, chairman of the Falmouth Hospital Board, and Dr Leighton Perrins, the hospital’s senior medical officer (SMO), say they have been lobbying unsuccessfully over the years to have the hospital upgraded. They say the situation has been compounded by the extra responsibilities the facility has assumed since the issue of noxious fumes forced the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) to start scaling down its operation in 2017.

“I have been in many meetings calling for the upgrade of the hospital. I have even put my requests in writing,” said Perrins. “Promises have been made but they have not borne the fruits I expect.”

Grant said that while there have been minor improvements, the upgrade is critical.

“Ever since I became chairman in 2014, the upgrade has been the top of my requests. Although I am happy to see things like the ongoing retrofitting of a vehicle to provide ambulance services, the upgrade is what I want to see most.”

But St Andrade Sinclair, regional director of the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA), says the delay in decision to upgrade the Falmouth hospital from a Type C to a Type B facility could be due to insufficient funding, which he says has been impacting Jamaica’s (overall) capacity to provide high-quality healthcare.

“While Falmouth is providing great service, to upgrade it would incur additional staff,” said Sinclair. “They will need to make provision for more space to accommodate other services to be added to existing ones, such as space for outpatient physiotherapy and at least one extra therapist, in addition to the one delivering in-house therapy.”

Sinclair said the lack of funds had also been impacting other areas, including the purchase and timely delivery of supplies.

“There are (requests) to purchase vital necessities,” said Sinclair. “When the funds are found, items (then) have to be imported … (Sometimes) a good six months expire before the imports arrive in Jamaica.”