Funding secured for expansion of Spanish Town Hospital, other facilities

 

Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton says the government has secured funding to carry out expansion work on the Spanish Town, St. Ann's Bay and May Pen hospitals.

 

Dr. Tufton, who was speaking on Radio Jamaica's Hotline programme on Friday, said at least ten other health centres will be upgraded under the multi-million project, which will also facilitate the digitisation of health records for patients. 

 

The health minister said the work to be done at Spanish Town Hospital will be the most extensive, and is expected to cost "just under US$50 million".  

 

The work will include building new facilities, operating theatres, a new accident and emergency unit, providing more beds and additional services.

 

As it stands, Dr. Tufton said the 70-year-old facility has outlived its capacity, considering it is the main hospital which serves the growing parish of St. Catherine.

 

The health minister said designs for the redeveloped Spanish Town Hospital are already complete and the next step is the process of tendering for a contractor.

 

The deadline for bids is October 11. 

 

Funding for the overall expansion work, to include the other hospitals and health centres, will come from a loan secured from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a grant from the European Union as well as a "significant capital injection and commitment by the Government of Jamaica to the tune of some US$87 million over three to five years," Dr. Tufton said.