King of Spain Ward at the Spanish Town Hospital robbed

The Spanish Town Hospital in St. Catherine was the scene of another robbery on Friday morning.

It is alleged that about 2:30 a.m., armed men said to be aligned to the Spanish Town-based Klansman gang invaded the King of Spain Ward at the hospital and robbed several members of staff.

A doctor on staff was also reportedly physically assaulted during the incident.

Efforts to contact Mark Martin, the Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, were unsuccessful.

RJR News was repeatedly told that he was out of office.

It is the second such incident to take place at the King of Spain ward of the hospital.

In July last year, a group of armed men which included a teenage boy, invaded the hospital and robbed several members of staff of cash, jewellery and other items.

The teenager was left behind by his cronies and was nabbed by the police.

Minister incensed

And, Rudyard Spencer, the Minister of Health, has condemned the attack.

In a release, Mr. Spencer said the “staff is traumatized by what I can only describe as becoming a regular occurrence especially at this particular facility”. 

“I strongly condemn this callous act. There is a pattern emerging that we do not like and we wish those criminal minded persons would allow suffering people to access medical attention and our staff to do their work without fear of incidents such as this,” Mr.  Spencer said.

He also urged members of the community to assist the police in their investigations.

“I urge members of the community to tell the authorities what they know and show these persons that they cannot get away with what they have done,” he said.

He said counseling is now being offered to all staff members.