Infrastructure issues at health facilities could curtail medical missions

   

Jamaica stands to lose out on the provision of free life-altering surgeries if the infrastructure issues at medical facilities are not addressed.

 

A team from Straight Caribbean Spine Foundation managed only five surgeries during its recent mission—four at Bustamante Hospital for Children and one at the University Hospital of the West Indies, a far cry from the 12 to 16 surgeries typically done on each visit.

 

Dr. Justin Bundy, a member of the mission team, says if the issues identified recently are not addressed there may be a curtailing of the mission. 

 

"We've always kind of committed to coming in the spring and in the fall. And so for us, you know, as long as the conditions are favourable and we can do what we need to do, we would plan on coming back in April to do our mission trip again. But I can tell you, if at the end of the day we can only do four or five surgeries, then it may not be worth coming twice a year. Maybe a once-a-year mission where you come and that's it. Because again, like you said, it's very costly from a personnel standpoint, from a time-off standpoint, from just, you know, the donations of equipment and all that stuff," Dr. Bundy explained Wednesday on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines.

 

The infrastructure challenges were highlighted in October after it came to light that the poor state of the operating theatre at Bustamante Hospital resulted in the delay of corrective surgery for an 11-year-old girl.