MONTEGO BAY, St James – Thousands of people, including students from across western Jamaica, turned out to the Cornwall Regional Hospital’s 30th anniversary exposition in Montego Bay this week.

The two-day expo was held at the medical facility’s location in Mount Salem and formed part of a series of activities that are being carried out by the institution in celebration of its many years of service to the country, and to western Jamaica in particular. Those activities will culminate with an awards ceremony at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort tonight.

This week’s expo was geared at enhancing the public’s awareness of the range of health services offered at the facility. In addition, it was put on to expose youths to the variety of career possibilities open to them in the health sector, even as it served to help improve Cornwall Regional’s image in the community.

“We continue to appreciate your inputs as we reflect on 30 years of service and as we draft a plan of action for forging ahead into a future, which we hope will be characterised by efficiency and effectiveness in health care delivery and improved health status for our nation,” the hospital CEO, Everton Anderson, said at the opening ceremony on Monday.

Meanwhile, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health, Grace Allen-Young, commended the hospital for having become the “beacon of specialist medical services” in the island, surpassing even the University Hospital of the West Indies and the Kingston Public Hospital with 4,800 surgeries as against 4,500 and 3,500 respectively at the other hospitals.

“Not only has Cornwall Regional Hospital been providing a good quality of service to the people of western Jamaica, but it is ensuring that the services are accessible and on par with those provided in the Kingston metropolitan area,” the permanent secretary said.

She also gave the institution kudos for the initiatives put in place to ensure that access and affordability of essential services continue to be available to the public.

“We must commend the multi-disciplinary staff of this hospital for the increasing number of new disciplines that it has taken on over the past 30 years and the reduction in waiting time and improvement in turn-around time,” she added.