"We do not want the hospital renamed" says family of late Health Minister

Despite the intervention of  Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller the family of late former Health Minister Dr. Herbert Eldemire remains adamant that Cornwall Regional hospital should not be renamed in his honour.

The Prime Minister tried to get the family to rethink its decision but Dr. Denise Eldemire Shearer – the late Health Minister’s daughter, told RJR News that the family’s decision was final.

“I can tell you that I had a very good conversation with the Prime Minister and the family’s position remains the same, we do not want our father’s name in the public domain in the kind of way it is and we do not want the hospital renamed. But we have had very amicable discussions with the Prime Minister,” she said.

The family refused to have the hospital renamed after suggestions emerged that the Mayor of Montego Bay, Glendon Harris, had blocked the renaming which had been approved by a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), cabinet in May 2010 following Dr. Eldemire’s death. The JLP has described the move as partisan - which the mayor denies.  

Dr. Herbert Eldemire served as Minister of Health under a JLP administration from 1962 to 1972 and was responsible for, among other things, the establishment of the Cornwall Regional Hospital, the School of Nursing and the introduction of the National Family Planning Programme.