THE United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Health to provide technical support for the construction of the China-gifted children’s hospital in St James, and assess the infrastructure and medical equipment of five public hospitals.

UNOPS, which is an operational arm of the United Nations, will be required to review technical documents, preliminary designs/drawings and medical equipment list for the proposed Western Regional Children’s Hospital. UNOPS will also assess and establish the necessary actions to strengthen the infrastructure and biomedical equipment for Spanish Town, May Pen, St Ann’s Bay Regional, Mandeville Regional hospitals as well as assess the feasibility of the renovation, expansion and reorganisation of the Kingston Public Hospital.

The MoU was signed by Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton; permanent secretary in the ministry, Sancia Bennett Templer; and head of UNOPS Operations in Central America, Colombia and the Caribbean, Ingar Falck Olsen, at Jamaica House in Kingston.

The minister said the contract is valued at US$550,000 and will be implemented over the next six months.

“We have to come to terms with delivering better coordination of the equipment that we purchase… so that we get maximum life out of these equipment,” he said.

Tufton said, too, that he is pleased that the Government was moving to fulfil the 2030 health care development plan, as the country has not seen the construction of a hospital in close to 30 years.

He added that this was not unusual in countries that build health care facilities periodically.

“We had outlined some time ago that one of the things that was needed, given the health profile of the population and where we need to be in order to address the concerns of our citizens, we needed an overall and comprehensive review of the reconciling of our health programme and the direction it was pointing us in,” he explained.

To combat the problem, the minister said the health ministry was developing a preventative and curative health care strategy.

He further outlined that the move to seek the assistance of UNOPS was curative and would guide the advancement of the country’s health facilities.

“Even though we would prefer to have locally registered companies advancing and leading on this project, the reality is, that we have to go for the expertise wherever the expertise is, and this is a specialised service that is being provided and UNOPS is the best placed, we believe, to advance that process,” Tufton said, adding that locals will also be involved in the assessment process.

In the meantime, head of UNOPS operation in Central America, Colombia and the Caribbean said the team has already visited the Spanish Town and May Pen Public hospitals.

“We understand that although a lot of things are indeed working, there are still some things that need looking at,” said the UN official.

Falck Olsen said UNOPS recently built a military hospital in Nicaragua and a regional hospital in Guatemala and is therefore qualified to help with improving the hospitals in Jamaica.

“We’re very enthusiastic to be here and to start the collaboration and build upon the good work that has been done by other colleagues within the system,” the UNOPS head said.

Meanwhile, Tufton revealed that the Western Regional Children’s Hospital will be the first to cater to children 13-18 years in Jamaica and in the region, and will be adding a 220-bed count for paediatric care.

In relation to implementing the recommendations made by UNOPS after its assessment, the minister said: “I anticipate, realistically, that this is a two-to five-year programme.”

However, he noted that the Andrew Holness-led Administration would break ground to improve “one or at least two of the facilities during the course of the next financial year”.

Tufton said, too, that the Government will break ground for Western Regional Children’s Hospital next year.