ST JAMES, Jamaica — Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton says the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) has agreed to offset some surgeries from the ailing Cornwall Regional Hospital in St James.

The Cornwall Regional Hospital is currently faced with what has been described as a complex ongoing ventilation problem affecting the first three floors of the ten-floor institution.

A number of departments to include the operating theatre have since been relocated.

“Now, we are going to transfer some procedures that require operating theatre and inpatient care. The University Hospital of the West Indies has agreed to take on some additional capacity for surgeries and will accommodate doctors and nurses who are linked to those procedures from this location into Kingston. Where those surgeries are planned, some of those surgeries will take place at the UWI,” disclosed Dr Tufton.

The minister was speaking at a town hall meeting held at the Montego Bay Civic Centre located at Sam Sharpe Square in St James on Thursday.

The meeting was aimed at health officials and other experts giving an update on the hospital and to hear the views of the public.

Anthony Lewis