MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Health officials in this central Jamaica parish say even while there are complaints about a shortage of beds there is an even greater concern about infrastructural space to accommodate patients at Mandeville Regional Hospital.

According to Chief Executive Officer of the Mandeville Regional Hospital Alwyn Miller, it needs to be expanded urgently.

“Occasionally, you will hear it in the public domain in terms of [not] having sufficient beds for admission; that is largely has to do with the unavailability or the inadequacy of infrastructure to accommodate the number of beds that we need to have to meet the demand, so we may have sufficient physical beds, but we don’t have the infrastructure to accommodate the number of beds we need to serve the public,” he said.

Miller told the Jamaica Observer, following a donation of beds and wheelchairs worth US$25,000 by Mandeville Spa and Wellness Resort, that the gifted resources will become replacements.

“[Mandeville Spa] is a new organisation, but it has seen it fit to help the hospital with a donation of six beds and 15 wheelchairs; it is very significant because we need to periodically change our equipment that might have been damaged,” said Miller.

“In terms of the admissions at the hospital, it is constant. There is a constant need for beds and wheelchairs, and so forth,” he added.

When asked if the hospital has seen an increase of trauma cases resulting from gun violence and other crimes in the southern region, Miller said this is a major challenge.

“There are persons who come in as a result of gunshot wounds, various types of crimes — domestic violence and so forth — but equally there is a challenge in terms of people coming in, in terms of motor vehicle accidents, motorbike accidents. It is not only from Manchester, but from adjoining parishes, we have many cases of motorbike accident victims who are referred to us from as far as Whitehouse in Westmoreland, from St Elizabeth and Clarendon,” he said.

“[It] puts a burden on our system. What it means is that sometimes a patient who might be scheduled for an elective surgery has to be postponed to accommodate these emergencies,” added Miller.

In the meantime, director at the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA) Michael Bent said the donation from Mandeville Spa was timely.

“We are grateful for the donation. People might think that it is a few beds and wheelchairs, but the health sector cannot function alone. Supplementary budgets, that is revenues or gifts from partners [including] private sector and civic organisations [is how], over the years, we have been able to carry out the achievement of our objectives by partnering,” he said.

“These beds make a big difference because when persons come into our facility we hear the complaints many times to get people out of a chair and into a bed. The reality is, with this high level of occupancy there will always be a need… As we said, we have had occupancies consistently over 100 per cent, and once you have over 100 per cent you know what that means: you have to find [space for] persons because we don’t want to have persons on the floor,” added Bent.