KINGSTON, Jamaica – Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton has signed a contract valued at approximately $38.9 million for the installation of perimeter fencing at the Lionel Town Hospital in Clarendon.

“Since I became Minister, the issue of the need to secure these premises has come up over and over. Today, we are announcing the contract…to do a perimeter fence of 2,100 feet long, seven feet high, with chain link and razor wire on top to protect the compound,” Tufton said during the contract signing ceremony at the hospital compound on Thursday.

Member of Parliament for Clarendon Southeast, Pearnel Charles Jr., in welcoming the project, said that the fencing will ensure the safety of patients and staff of the facility.

He noted that the Lionel Town Hospital is critical to the economic progress of the parish.

“If we want economic development, we must put emphasis on health, which is integral to productivity and…that is why the Lionel Town Hospital is important to all the surrounding areas,” he said. 

The 50-bed hospital serves some 50,000 residents from Lionel Town and surrounding communities.

This erection of the fencing is among three upgrading projects being undertaken at health facilities in the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA), totaling $189. 4 million.

Other projects include the Chapelton Hospital renovation, and roof repairs at the Mandeville Regional Hospital. 

Tufton toured the Chapelton Hospital on Thursday to get a first-hand look at the progress of works.

“The Government has now awarded a $112 million contract for the second phase, which will see further expansion and completion of the facility. This is a very important institution  in northern Clarendon,” Tufton said.

The first phase was undertaken through a donation of US$1 million by United States-based Clarendon resident, Beverly Nichols, through her Push Start Foundation. When completed, the hospital will be a 40-bed facility, which will provide improved services to thousands of residents.

The project includes building a second ward, expansion of the waiting and records areas, construction of a new minor operating theatre and laboratory, improvement to parking and water storage, among other works.

The minister said the parking lot construction will be undertaken during the third and final phase of the project, but this will not prevent the hospital from opening. 

Member of Parliament for Clarendon North Central, Robert Morgan, said the community is looking forward to the completion of the project. 

“This hospital can assist not only the people of Chapelton but also Mocho, Kellits and all the way to Frankfield. The hospital will offer in-patient services as well as dental, maternity and others except major surgery, for which it is not equipped, and it will boost other patient care such as treatment of asthmatics,” Morgan noted.

Residents are accessing health care at the Summerfield community centre, where the hospital’s services have been relocated.

The team also toured the almost completed reroofing project at the Mandeville Regional Hospital, which is being undertaken at a cost of $38 million.