Sandy Bay Health Centre officially handed over to Ministry of Health

The Sandy Bay Citizens Association’s Health Committee officially handed over the Sandy Bay Health Centre to the Ministry of Health and Wellness on Sunday.

During the handover ceremony held at the Elim Gospel Assembly in the community, parish manager for the Clarendon Health Department, Joseph Grant, told The Gleaner that they will now be able to do more in terms of the services they offer.

“It means a lot for the health services. We have been paying rent for this facility for many years. First and foremost, it becomes part of the asset of the Government of Jamaica but there are things that we wanted to do for the facility that we were not able to do,” he informed.

Grant also shared that prior to the official handover, he was already exploring working towards expanding the waiting area as well as having a triage area set up.

“Somewhere down the road, we can contemplate curative care here that is for a doctor to come at some point in time,” he noted.

Pointing out that the handover is a significant development for the primary care of residents in the community, Grant said he is now looking forward to greater things with users who come from as far as Old Harbour receiving better care.

The clinic was built by the Health Committee of Sandy Bay with some members of the citizens association involved.

Retired nurse Ivel Heron said most of the persons on the committee are now old and some have died.

“When we asked for certain benefits for the clinic they (Ministry of Health and Wellness) say that the clinic is not owned by them, therefore, we saw that it is the fitting thing to hand it over to them in order that the committee may get more benefit,” she said.

The May Pen Health Committee was established in the 1980s and a push was made for the centre in 1986 by Dr Janice Chang, who was residing in May Pen while doing her internship at The University of the West Indies.

“She chose to look into the community healthcare in May Pen East. This involved visits to child health clinics and basic schools. She found the condition of the Sandy Bay clinic appalling and the health and security of children at a basic school in Sevens Road needed much attention. This was discussed with staff of the relevant healthcare areas with a view that a new healthcare centre be erected at Sandy Bay through activities of the health committee,” Heron informed in her presentation on the history of the clinic.