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Radio News Report by Prince Moore
By Prince Moore
A St Thomas mother is appealing for assistance for her autistic son - a teenager - who she says is in considerable pain and urgently needs to undergo a dental procedure.
Tanya Thompson has made several social media posts, pleading for dental assistance for her 16 year old autistic son.
Ms Thompson says for nearly a year, she has been making attempts to have her son Daniel Smart undergo an extraction without success.
She was referred to public facilities for treatment because the case was considered high risk.
At Kingston Public Hospital, she was told that it was not possible to carry out the procedure because all the operating theatres there were out of service, "and they say If I'm going to wait, it's one to two to three years for the waiting."
She was then referred to the University Hospital of the West Indies but was told that the procedure is not done there and that she should instead take her son to Bustamante Hospital for Children, only to be denied service there "because of his age, because he's not 12 anymore."
After finding a private medical facility that could perform the procedure, the mother was told that the bill would be more than $400,000, but according to her, the Ministry of Health & Wellness declined her request for a Compassionate Grant to pursue that option.
She said the explanation she was given was that her case was not serious enough to warrant consideration for the grant.
Commuting cost
Ms Thompson, who is unemployed and without access to personal transportation, lives with her sister in Cedar Valley, St. Thomas.
She told Radio Jamaica News that commuting between St. Thomas and Kingston daily would cost her up to 30 thousand dollars per trip on private transportation, and with her son becoming aggressive around strangers at time, commuting via public transportation is difficult and unsafe.
She is now appealing for assistance to help cover the cost of the dental procedure, as her son is in considerable pain.
KPH
In a recent update, Health & Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton said the four main operating theatres at the Kingston Public Hospital remain shuttered.
Hundreds of surgeries have been relocated from KPH to other facilities across the Corporate Area, following the closure of its four main operating theatres due to a malfunctioning air conditioning system.
The AC system has since been repaired but the hospital administration says the presence of mould in the theatres is one factor delaying their reopening.
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