WESTERN BUREAU: Health sector workers employed by the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) are now benefiting from a reduction in cellular telephone rates and discounts on telephone purchases as a result of an agreement reached with Digicel.

Digicel and the WRHA also signed another agreement that will enable the former to significantly improve the WRHA’s communication capabilities over the next 12 months.

“We are going to look at the entire communication facilities in the (WRHA’s) hospitals to see how we can bring value-added services and functional efficiencies within the organisation,” said Seamus Lynch, chief executive officer of Digicel.

“What we are talking about is public data; access to “close user group” and other important services. All of which are new concepts to Jamaica but are used in many markets elsewhere in the medical profession,” Lynch added.

The new concepts will lead to better services being provided at the hospitals, Lynch commented.

Under the first agreement, more than 2,000 health sector workers employed by the WRHA will be allowed a 20 per cent discount on some brands of Digicel phones and between 16 and 27 per cent reductions on most of the services provided by Digicel to its mobile customers.

Speaking at the official signing ceremony at Digicel’s regional office in Montego Bay last week, chairman of WRHA, Gordon Brown said this agreement was part of the WRHA’s vision to achieve a higher standard of communication and greater efficiency between members of staff.

“The facility we now have with Digicel enables members of staff to access telephones at a highly concessionary rate and one that gives the WRHA members of staff most favourable terms on the rate that apply to the service,” Brown said.

WRHA regional director, Dr Sheila Campbell-Forrester, who was also present at the signing ceremony, said the arrangement with Digicel was one way of making the members of staff feel important.

She said in the health care industry, it was very important that workers are recognised because of the fact that they operate under “difficult conditions”.

According to Dr Campbell-Forrester, the agreement with Digicel forms part of the strengthening of ties with the private sector and is aimed at improving health care in the various communities served by the WRHA.