MONTEGO BAY, St James — Construction of the US$3.5 million Good Shepherd Foundation sponsored -Hope Health Clinic started in January with less than 20 per cent of the funds required in hand, but board members say with their faith in God the centre should be up and running by yearend.

“Over the last two years or so we have worked very hard to get enough funds as possible for a commencement….. and we have so far got US$600,000 but with our faith we hope to complete the project and not to stop and start,”said Giuseppe Pinto Maffesanti, a board member of the Good Shepherd Foundation.

Maffesanti who is also a developer, was speaking at a press briefing last Friday held at the Roman Catholic Chancery office in Montego Bay.

According to Maffesanti, the foundation of the planned 20,000 square foot two-storey building- which is being constructed on the grounds of the Blessed Sacrament in the resort city of Montego Bay -has been completed and by the middle of this month the walls of the structure should be at the first floor level.

His daughter Nancy Maffesanti noted that work on the multi-million project is moving smoothly and the members of the construction team are working in harmony to ensure that the project will be completed within budget.

” Everything has moved forward. The design stages are complete and we have started to identify several persons who can help us with materials and donations and we are making progress with those discussions,” said the younger Maffesanti, who is an architect on the project.

Chairman of the Good Shepherd Foundation attorney Jeanne Robinson-Foster who noted that the funds secured so far was realised by a raft of fund raising events and from donations, said the foundation plans to put on other such events and to aggressively seek donations in coming weeks, in an effort to have the facility completed.

” We are relying on every single person to help in someway, either in cash or in kind…. were are willing to accept any donation. If there is someone who wishes to sell drops and give us $10 that’s perfect because ever mickle mek a muckle,”she explained.

Added: Robinson-Foster: “This health centre is not going to belong to those of us around this table (board members); it is going to belong to the community and were are hoping that it will be there for a very, very long time.”

When complete, the new facility will replace the existing Brenda Strafford Medical Centre located in the Albion area of Montego Bay.

Last year, roughly 30,00 patients received medical attention at the centre.

But members of the Good Shepherd Foundation say the new facility will allow significantly more patients to get medical care.

Upon completion, the building will have an out-patient clinic, doctors’ rooms, a pharmacy, living quarters for resident and visiting doctors, dentistry, a waiting area, a canteen, and an operating theatre to undertake minor procedures.

A laboratory and a rehabilitation centre for patients who may need ongoing therapy will also be included.

Patients using the facility will be required to pay a nominal fee.

But Founder and Patron of the Good Shepherd Foundation Archbishop Charles Dufour said no one will be turned away because of a lack of money.

“We are running a ministry not a business,” he told reporters.

The Good Shepherd Foundation was started in 1997 by Dufour, then bishop of Montego Bay, and has since provided assistance for thousands of persons in the western parts of the island.

In addition to the Brenda Stafford Medical Centre, there are a number of other institutions that the foundation helps to run. They include:

* Home of Charlotte’s Children, which is located at Albion, St James and is home to underprivileged children;

* Children of Hope in Montego Bay, which feeds and schools children;

* the Seaford Clinic in Westmoreland;

*the Blessed Assurance Village in Adelphi and

* the Widows Mite in St Ann.

The foundation is a non-denominational organisation.