ST JAMES, Jamaica – Service delivery at the Black River Hospital in St Elizabeth has been boosted, with the official commissioning of a newly erected entrance and perimeter wall at the health facility on Friday.

The new entrance, constructed at a cost of $20 million, was officially opened by Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton and Transport and Mining Minister, Audley Shaw, following a ceremony on the hospital grounds.

The rehabilitation of the hospital’s frontage was made possible through the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI) Bauxite Community Development Programme (BCDP) and forms part of the administrators’ envisioned Black River Hospital development plan.

Construction started in the summer of last year and was completed by December 2022 within budget.

The entrance is now equipped with automatic entry and exit gates, pedestrian gate, proper lighting, and spacious guardhouse for security personnel.

The space has been widened to create a more efficient traffic flow in and out of the facility. In his address, Minister Shaw stated that the previous gate at the facility often contributed to severe traffic congestion along High Street, which runs directly in front of the hospital, especially during peak hour traffic.

“In many instances, this traffic build up would also make it difficult for emergency vehicles to access the hospital thereby negatively affecting service delivery. Another important aspect of the project is the construction of a layby for vehicles which will also reduce the congestion on the corridor,” he noted.

The minister said the JBI is happy to have invested in the facility, noting that many of the patients treated by the hospital live in or around bauxite mining communities “and will be therefore benefiting from this investment”.

For his part, Tufton said the new entrance has improved the aesthetics of the hospital while at the same time, corrected the longstanding traffic issue that existed in the vicinity of the facility, which often resulted from traffic coming to and from the property.

“We can’t be healers of illness and be the creators of problems. So, it was very appropriate that we addressed that problem that has existed for a while. Beyond that though, this concept of providing relief is what healthcare is all about. Oftentimes we forget that relief starts not just with the clinical assessment and diagnosis of a patient, [but] relief also starts with appearance,” he stated.

Member of Parliament for Southwest St Elizabeth and Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, Floyd Green, in his remarks said the upgraded entrance gives a “welcoming feeling” and expressed gratitude to the JBI for the project.

“How the hospital appears automatically impacts on your mood, it impacts on how you feel as you enter through the gate and to be honest, what we are replacing, you use to get a feeling of trepidation,” he said.