Chinese hospital ship 'Silk Road Ark' arrives in Jamaica

 

Health services in the western region have received a critical boost with the arrival of the Chinese Navy's hospital ship, the Silk Road Ark.

 

The ship arrived in Jamaica on Thursday for a 12-day mission. 

 

It is currently docked in Montego Bay and will thereafter sail to Kingston and then to Falmouth in Trelawny. 

 

Health and Wellness Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton says the full service hospital ship, which is doing a tour of the region, had its schedule rearranged to arrive in Jamaica earlier to ease the burden on the health system caused by Hurricane Melissa.

 

The team of more than 100 doctors, nurses and technicians will be providing outpatient care and performing elective surgeries. 

 

"So I want to begin by saying a big thank you to the government and the people of China for the arrival of this vessel. There are over 100 clinicians and support team members on board. They have several operating theatres, significant diagnostic equipment, various specialties and are doing both outpatient services as we speak on the vessel and will over the coming week or so be here in Montego Bay, in Kingston and at Falmouth. At which point they will do a number of elective surgeries like hernias and so on. So they are working with the local team to identify those persons and to give that type of support and then, of course, outpatient services," Dr. Tufton outlined. 

 

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie said the docking of the ship in Kingston will bring much needed relief to hospitals in the north and south health regions which have received patients from western parishes. 

 

"We have to remember that even though the western region has been affected, there is an impact on the other regions as well because they have been getting a lot of patients that are self-referring as well as patients that have been referred to KPH and Bustamante and all those, Spanish Town Hospital, May Pen Hospital, Mandeville Regional Hospital, St. Ann's Bay Regional Hospital. The ship going into Kingston gives us an opportunity as well to be able to get some of those cases done in a more expedient manner," she noted.

 

This marks the second time that a Chinese naval hospital ship has provided medical services in Jamaica since the Peace Ark hospital ship visited in 2011.