Improvements at May Pen Hospital

MAY PEN, Clarendon — Chief executive officer of the May Pen Hospital, Canute Thompson, has said that there have been several improvements in the provision of health care at that institution.

Speaking at a meeting of the Homecomers Association of Clarendon recently at the St James Methodist Church Hall in the parish, Thompson said that in January this year a gynaecology and ‘high risk’ clinic was established to complement the services of the regular medical and surgical clinics and an obstetrics and gynaecology consultant hired.

He also said that a pharmacy offering medication at rates lower than most other facilities was opened in November last year, new wards were opened in December and a blood collection centre was opened in July.

Community group gets stove

SAWYERS, Trelawny — A stove valued at $11,000 has been presented to the Sawyers Home Economics Group in Trelawny to assist with income-generating projects.

The equipment, acquired through the government’s Social and Economic Support Programme (SESP), was presented to the group by member of parliament for the area, Doreen Chen, at a function held at the Sawyers All-Age School recently.

Increase in domestic food production

OCHO RIOS, St Ann — Domestic food crop production grew by 29.4 per cent in the parish of St Ann during 2001. The parish experienced positive growth during the first, second and third quarters of the year, Vivian Kildare, agricultural manager, has said.

In a recent interview with JIS News, Kildare said that growth in the first quarter of 2001 was 50.4 per cent more than the similar period in 2000, while growth in the second and third quarters amounted to 37.7 per cent and 19.6 per cent, respectively.

Health ministry working to meet nursing programme deadline

KINGSTON — Health Minister John Junor has said that his ministry was determined to meet the 2005 regional deadline for all entry level nurses to be equipped with a Bachelor of Science Nursing (BSN) degree.

To meet the target set by the regional nursing body, Junor said that the ministry was in the process of reviewing the nursing curriculum and there were plans to upgrade the Registered Nurses Programme. He added that the Northern Caribbean University in Manchester now offered a BSN degree and Brown’s Town Community College in St Ann was in the process of establishing a BSN degree programme.