PNP councillor joins call for children’s hospital in west to be named after Simpson Miller
Published:Wednesday | April 15, 2026 | 12:51 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Kerry Thomas, the councillor for the Mt Salem division in the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC), has served notice on the corporation that he will be tabling a resolution to have the new Western Children and Adolescent Hospital, in Montego Bay, named in honour of former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller.
Thomas, a member of the People’s National Party (PNP) minority in StJMC, formally served the notice during last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the corporation, which he expects will ultimately trigger the corporation to put through the request to the Ministry of Health and Wellness via the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA).
In an interview with The Gleaner on Monday, Thomas said the move is aimed at recognising Simpson Miller’s role in advancing the project and her wider contribution to national development.
“We hope to get the resolution passed and that good sense will prevail in the St James Municipal Corporation in acknowledging the contribution made by former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller towards this facility and support the resolution,” said Thomas.
“Our aim of the proposed resolution is not to politicise the work of our former prime minister. It is to acknowledge her work and contribution to the national growth and development, so I hope that people don’t view a resolution like this along a political line.”
Thomas said Simpson Miller’s historic leadership and commitment to national development make the proposed honour quite appropriate.
“She is Jamaica’s first female prime minister, and she has contributed to the growth and development of this country, and it is only fitting that we rename the hospital in her honour,” he said.
The proposal comes on the heels of a call by the PNP Patriots, an affiliate of the opposition PNP, that recently urged the Government to act “in a spirit of national unity and historical recognition” by renaming the facility after Simpson Miller, noting the project was conceptualised under her leadership.
Within the St James Municipal Corporation, the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) holds the majority with 13 councillors, while the PNP has four.
POLITICAL IMBALANCE
Despite the political imbalance, former Montego Bay mayor, Glendon Harris, who served on the PNP’s ticket between 2012 and 2016, said he supports the proposal to honour Simpson Miller.
“I know how the JLP people think; they will not go with it,” said Harris. “It is only fitting for the medical facility now under construction to be named in her honour when completed, because she was the one that got the funding to build that hospital.”
Harris further argued that Simpson Miller’s decision to establish the facility in western Jamaica demonstrated her commitment to the region.
“If she is from Kingston and she decided that a hospital of this type be done down here in Montego Bay, that means her heart is with the people of the western region,” he said.
Another former Montego Bay mayor, Shalman Scott, who served from 2003 to 2012 on the JLP’s ticket, also endorsed the proposal, describing it as a fitting recognition.
“It’s timely that she be considered for this honour. Such an arrangement must be encouraged because it is a factor of motivation in the collective social arrangement that we have in the country, so that our people can pull together in the national interest,” said Scott.
“I feel that we might be surprised, but I hope that the resolution when tabled calls for a private vote so that there is no unnecessary diversion from the more important factors that have come to Montego Bay as a consequence of the then Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller’s action,” he added.
The Western Children and Adolescent Hospital, now under construction on the grounds of the Cornwall Regional Hospital, is a 220-bed facility designed to provide specialised medical services for children and adolescents up to the age of 18. The multi-billion-dollar project, which is being funded as a gift to Jamaica by the Chinese government, is expected to open later this year.