New health centre for Golden Spring

Residents of Golden Spring, St Andrew, and surrounding communities will soon have a brand-new health centre, which is being built at a cost of nearly $40 million.

The Golden Spring Health Centre Reconstruction and Upgrading was made possible through funding from the Caribbean Develop-ment Bank Community Investment Project admin-istered through the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF). The community will be contributing 18 per cent of the cost of the reconstruction.

Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson, who was present at the recent signing of the contract between JSIF and the Stock Farm Road Citizens' Association, said Jamaica's network of primary health-care facilities has helped the nation to get better outcomes in health than many developed countries.

"Primary care is grounded in prevention and has a community focus. It is cheaper for persons to go to the health centre than to go to hospital. It relieves the pressure on secondary care and allows secondary care to focus on the major issues. My vision is for Jamaica to be the health hub for the region and a major contender in the Caribbean. We can achieve this goal through this drive to improve health care, especially at the primary level," he said.

TYPE TWO FACILITY

At the end of six months, which is the expected duration of the project, there should be a Type Two health centre that offers services such as child health and immunisation, family planning, curative services, health promotion and illness prevention, surveillance and disease control.

Ferguson commended JSIF for the work it has done over the years, and said the agency demonstrates that Government and Government-run institutions can work well.