Bed capacity at Cornwall Regional Hospital to be boosted

 

By Kimone Witter  

 

 

Cornwall Regional Hospital in St. James is set to receive a significant boost in bed capacity over the next month, with 227 additional beds expected to come online to address severe overcrowding challenges at the facility.

 

This figure will comprise 100 new beds and 127 that are being restored.

 

Health & Wellness Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton, who toured several hurricane-affected hospitals on Saturday, told the journalists that the facility will begin reopening renovated wards this week, continuing over the next three weeks.

 

He says, once these wards are fully restored, the hospital is expected to regain 127 beds, to significantly improve patient flow and reduce congestion, particularly in Accident & Emergency, where nurses and doctors recently protested over the overcrowded conditions. 

 

"By the third week or so of February, we will see [an] approximately 100 bed dome that will be placed just outside of the A&E, which will add another significant capacity towards space here at Cornwall. So right now, the building is taking place and so the challenges at the A&E are linked to lack of bed capacity in the first instance. And we can't put people out on the road. If they come and they are ill, we have to treat with them. Hence why the space is crammed and why we agree the nurses and doctors are being challenged to go well beyond the call of duty, and we understand the stress that they are facing," the minister acknowledged. 

 

He said the visits to health facilities last week were aimed at directly assessing recovery work and ensuring that hospitals are steadily returning to full operation following the hurricane damage.

 

The minister also visited Noel Holmes Hospital in Hanover where renovations are underway at the nurses' quarters, dietary and maternity wards.

 

The hospital is managing approximately 40 Accident & Emergency patients daily, with support from a Spanish non-governmental organisation that provided a field hospital equipped with an operating theatre and beds.

 

At Falmouth Hospital in Trelawny, the A&E is undergoing renovations to the roof, with reinforcement of columns to prevent wind damage. The hospital's dietary facilities and a third of its bed capacity were affected, with operations currently limited to 30-40 beds.

 

Dr. Tufton said full pre-hurricane operations are expected to resume by March, with staff accommodation also being addressed.

 

Meanwhile, President of the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ), Dawn-Marie Richards said overcrowded conditions at Accident & Emergency departments are causing tempers to flare.

 

Ms. Richards disclosed that nurses are being verbally abused by patients and their relatives. 

 

"I want to ask the members of the public to be patient with the nurses when they go into these overcrowded spaces, because the challenges that they are facing are not directly related to nursing. Nurses have no control over providing bed space and physical space for clients to...be in. We don't have the control over providing equipment to utilise on persons. So we are asking people to be patient, and we are speaking both of clients and their relatives," she urged.