Health minister says Sav Hospital to get massive upgrade

WESTERN BUREAU:

Health and Wellness Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton says the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital, in Westmoreland, is to undergo the most significant expansion in its history. The announcement comes amid calls from civic leaders in the parish for a new hospital.

“This is not just election talk, in two weeks, I, as minister of health and wellness, as part of the Andrew Holness administration, will be back here in Westmoreland unveiling the largest expansion of the Savanna-la-Mar Hospital,” Tufton said this past Sunday, as he addressed a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) meeting in Westmoreland Central.

Tufton said that the architectural designs and costings for the project have already been completed, and that work will begin soon on hospital lands adjacent to the existing Accident and Emergency (A&E) department.

“We are going to build on the lands next door to A&E, right on the hospital compound, a very large new accident and emergency area for our people,” he said. “And we are going to convert the existing A&E to add more beds so that people who are waiting for a bed can have more access and better service.”

Tufton credited George Wright, the incumbent member of parliament for Westmoreland Central for helping to champion the development.

“George Wright has appropriately provided leadership and representation for the people, not just for Central Westmoreland, but for Westmoreland, the parish,” said Tufton.

LINGERING SCEPTICISM

The Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital, a Type B facility, and the only public hospital in the parish, was opened to the public in 1971. It was built to serve a relatively small rural population but is now catering to close to 150,000 residents. In times of crisis, it further accommodates patients from neighbouring parishes of Hanover, St. Elizabeth, and St. James.

Originally equipped for basic surgical, medical, and maternity services, the hospital now suffers from chronic bed shortages, insufficient staff, and an overwhelmed emergency department.

The A&E department, the hospital’s most critical frontline area, has repeatedly been flagged by internal audits and staff as dangerously overcrowded, with patients often waiting hours or days to be admitted. Equipment shortages, ageing infrastructure, and the hospital’s location in a low-lying, flood-prone area, are also issues of concern.

Within recent times, several prominent stakeholders in the parish, including Moses Chybar, the president of the Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce, have been calling for a new hospital, saying expanding the Savanna-la-Mar hospital is tantamount to applying Band-aid solutions to a deep-rooted crisis.

“We must take a hard look at our health sector and our hospital capacity. Right now, the demand for healthcare far exceeds our ability to respond,” Chybar told The Gleaner in a recent interview. “It is time for the Government of Jamaica to seriously consider constructing a new, modern hospital right here in Savanna-la-Mar.”

While Tufton’s announcement on Sunday was met with applause from JLP supporters, scepticism lingers among many residents who view the promise as politicking.

“This sounds like another one of those announcements we’ve heard before,” said a senior nurse at the Savanna-la-Mar hospital, as she questioned the sudden sense of urgency, “Until we see heavy equipment digging and concrete pouring, we’ll keep doing what we always do, which is to work miracles in a broken system.”