Field hospital erected to relieve overburdened Spanish Town health facility

Overwhelmed by a surge in the number of persons with COVID-19 visiting the health facility for medical attention, the Spanish Town Hospital yesterday received a well-needed boost with a 40-bed COVID-19 field hospital established at the institution.

The urgent need for the field hospital was emphasised by Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton who indicated that St Catherine, the parish in which the hospital is located, had a general COVID-19 positivity rate of 33 per cent.

The field hospital, donated by the United States Government, was redeployed from the National Chest Hospital to the Spanish Town Hospital.

Tufton who toured the facility on Friday commented on the importance of establishing the field hospital at the new location.

"The facility has come at a very important time to deal with the overflow of COVID positive cases in the parish, and I am sure the doctors and nurses will appreciate doing what they can do to provide as best as possible a response to COVID infections in the parish," Tufton said.

He said that a second field hospital which is expected to arrive in the island soon would be established in central Jamaica.

At present, some 70 persons with COVID-19 are being treated at the Spanish Town Hospital.

The Health and Wellness Minister said that the field hospital was equipped with 40 beds but had the capacity to hold up to 60.

Equipped with connections for power, air conditioning and other support infrastructure, including provisions for portable oxygen tanks, the field hospital will free up wards that had been assigned to treat patients with the highly contagious disease.

Senior medical officer for the Spanish Town Hospital Jacqueline Wright James said that for the past year the health facility had to employ innovative measures to create additional space.

"We have basically assigned two additional wards to COVID. We have turned the waiting area in the accident and emergency area into a ward. We have transformed the booth into a nurses station and we have basically ran out of space and some of the various amenities that are necessary for the care of our patients, so we are very happy today," she stated.

Responding to the shortage of oxygen supply, Tufton said that things were better now with less stress on the hospital system because of the recent lockdown measures instituted by the government.

"It has been relieved somewhat but still a tenuous situation, so we cannot encourage non compliance."

He urged Jamaicans to take advantage of the vaccination blitz this weekend. The Government has designated 44 locations for persons to get the jab. Additionally, 50,000 slots have been assigned to tourism workers, teachers, persons aged 60 and over, immigration officers, marine pilots and others.

"I have issued an order to the public health system to downsize their amenities in other areas unless it is life-saving and essential and focus on the vaccination programme,” Tufton said.

According to the minister this weekend blitz would be a true test of the vaccination exercise and would prove the level of hesitancy and acceptability.