Tufton urges greater investment in Sir John Golding Rehab Centre to aid amputees

With the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre beginning celebratory activities for its 70th anniversary yesterday, Dr Christopher Tufton, minister of health and wellness, has called for continued investment into the institution.

The rehab centre annually accepts 80 per cent of amputation cases linked to diabetes in the island.

The Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre (formerly the Mona Rehabilitation Centre) was established in October 1954 in response to a major Poliomyelitis outbreak in Jamaica. The hospital was founded by Sir John Golding, a British orthopaedic surgeon, along with a small team of dedicated persons. He is also father of Opposition Leader Mark Golding.

The Mona Rehabilitation Centre was renamed in honour of Sir John Golding following his death in 1996. After Poliomyelitis was eradicated, the centre was upgraded to a type C specialist hospital in the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) and has extended its service to include treating individuals with any form of spinal cord injuries.

The hospital is the only such centre in Jamaica and first of two in the English-speaking Caribbean. It also caters to the rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injuries due mainly to traumatic or non-traumatic causes. It has a capacity of 68 beds: 28 adult beds and 40 paediatric beds. There is also an outpatient general orthopaedic clinic on Tuesdays and an artificial Limb Clinic on a first Friday.

While speaking during a prayer breakfast hosted on the grounds of the institution yesterday, Tufton said that with 90 per cent of approximately 300 amputations in Jamaica each year being linked to diabetes or complications associated with diabetes, that is a major reason for the need for more support of the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre.

“It raises a number of issues, when you look at the amputees, for example, who come here, whether for overnight stay or during clinic days,” Tufton said.

Lifestyle-related disease

He continued to state his concerns about the amputation cases linked to diabetes that flood the institution’s wards for care and rehabilitation.

“That’s [a result of bad] consumption habits. That is lifestyle generally, lack of exercise, improper nutrition, the salts, the sugars, the fats, you know, hypertension leading to other things,” Tufton said.

“What’s worse is that many people don’t know until the situation is out of control, and so they end up having to amputate, and it’s a real challenge for us,” he said.

He said the situation also presented a challenge where the relevant authorities have to do outreach around prevention and control, and that is why the Ministry of Health and Wellness has programmes such as Know Your Numbers, which encourages persons to get screened at least once a year to determine if they are suffering from something.

Tufton said that in the last year or so, commitments have been made to the institution of just over $75 million of which $50 million was used for a programme called New Limb, New Life launched in 2023 primarily for persons who have lost a lower limb due to diabetics.

“In one sense, it is good that the institution is here because the efforts that it makes to cauterise and to rehabilitate are absolutely essential,” Tufton said.

“Here at Sir John Golding, we have made an effort to reaffirm our interest, our appreciation, and our commitment to the cause of rehabilitation,” he said.

Mark Golding was unavoidably absent for the prayer breakfast, but his daughter, Tasmin Golding, represented the family.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com