THE Annotto Bay Hospital in St Mary recently commissioned into service an elevator at the facility, 57 years after the elevator shaft was built during the construction of the hospital.

The elevator was purchased and installed with a $3.5 million grant from the National Health Fund (NHF).

Porters at the facility, who prior to the installation were forced to carry patients up and down the stairs to and from wards on the upper floor of the hospital, were delighted at the new addition.

Senior medical officer at the hospital, Dr Ray Fraser, said the installation of the elevator would have a tremendous impact on patient care at the facility.

The male medical and surgical wards of the hospital were also reopened at the ceremony. The wards were refurbished with grants amounting to $13.3 million from the NHF to the North East Regional Health Authority (NERHA). Renovation work included the retiling of floors and walls, installation of new windows and doors and repairs to existing ones, new plumbing installation and the provision of new sanitary appliances and repainting of the entire building.

“NHF Institutional grants have been transforming our healthcare services to improve the delivery of healthcare by providing much- needed equipment, refurbishing and constructing new facilities and training staff,” said NHF CEO, Rae Barrett at the reopening ceremony.

He said over $4.1 billion had been approved for various projects to improve the health service delivery infrastructure throughout the country.