MONTEGO BAY, St James – Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton has lauded staff of Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in St James for their continued commitment to outstanding service delivery, despite the challenges being experienced at the facility.

“I remain proud of the team because Cornwall Regional, as a clinical service provider, has not budged in terms of those services and again, I keep saying to persons that they must make a distinction between the building and the service provision. The work is going on,” Dr Tufton emphasised.

The minster said more than 1.3 million lab tests were done at the facility last year as well as thousands of surgeries, including elective surgeries.

“They continue to do great work in terms of cancer treatment, dialysis has expanded, and I could go on. So from the service perspective, we have to continue to recognise and salute the work that has been done on the ground and is being done — and last year was no exception,” Dr Tufton said.

He was speaking during a press briefing which preceded a tour of the hospital last Friday.

Dr Tufton noted that he met with representatives from the neighbouring West Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventist facility, at which CRH has been housing some of its services.

“We discussed the issues around the use of the facility. As you know, the church has been very instrumental in providing significant support to the people of St James by allowing their main auditorium on this side of the country to be used as a health centre where hundreds go each day for treatment,” he said.

“That discussion was good; we expressed our thanks as usual as a Government, but also as a regional authority. The response is that it is about a recommitment to co-operate, to work with the hospital and the people because…it really is part of ministry to help those who are less fortunate, and there is a lot of demonstration of that by just making the facility available,” the minister added.

He added that the meeting included discussions about timelines and other issues that needed to be addressed in order to ensure that work continues at the facility.

“I am very satisfied, having had those discussions, that there is a commitment to continue to assist and continue to provide the leadership that has been provided, and to continue the collaboration with the clinical team,” Dr Tufton said.

The minister was accompanied on the tour of the hospital by a team from the Western Regional Health Authority, headed by Regional Director Errol Greene.