Montego Bay Chamber demands action on Cornwall Hospital

WESTERN BUREAU:

The Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called for Prime Minister Andrew Holness to move swiftly to address what it calls unacceptable conditions at the St James-based Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH).

The Mt Salem-based Type A hospital was hit with a noxious fumes crisis in 2017, which resulted in the dislocation of many services. Since then, the hospital has not operated at optimal levels.

“That facility has become a shanty town, with various departments splintered across its compound, and, in fact, a visit to the CRH is chaos itself,” the chamber said.

“We are calling on Prime Minister Holness to intervene now before more people die, and before we lose some of our best doctors and medical staff.”

The lobby is pressing the Government to expedite the multibillion-dollar renovation of the hospital to provide surgeries for cancer patients, a proper dialysis centre for kidney patients, and sufficient beds and nebulisers for patients with respiratory illnesses.

CRH project managers and other officials have come under scathing criticism for the much-protracted project.

The business group said that it was dissatisfied with the performance of the Professor Archibald McDonald-led oversight committee, suggesting that it would prefer leadership from a western Jamaica stakeholder.

“Kingston is not Jamaica. There are qualified people here in the west. We have capable engineers here who are capable of leading the oversight committee,” the organisation said.

Construction on the reno project is slated to resume in July after being stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Janet Silvera was returned unopposed as president on Wednesday.

Silvera is also a journalist at The Gleaner’s Western Bureau.