FORT CHARLOTTE, Hanover — Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has rubbished claims by the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) that equipment at the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital in Westmoreland is not working and there is nothing in the budget to expand the Type B facility.

“As it relates to the claim that we have nothing in the budget to improve conditions, that’s not true. First of all, that’s not how the budget works when it comes to an essential service like health,” stated Tufton.

The minister was responding to queries from the Jamaica Observer following a tour of the Noel Holmes Hospital in Hanover on Thursday.

The claims were made by members of the PNP who took the podium at the party’s Petersfield divisional conference last week Friday evening following a tour of the hospital earlier that day.

“Comrades, I have seen something today. I know the hospital is stressed out. It needs to be expanded. Right now they really don’t have the space for all the patients that they need to accommodate in the wards and so on. And, when I asked if Savanna-la-Mar hospital is included in the plans for the Government to fix up and expand various facilities, I was told no. So, the Labour Party Government doesn’t really have anything in mind for Savanna-la-Mar hospital, and we know that Savanna-la-Mar hospital needs some additional investment,” asserted PNP President Mark Golding.

Golding noted that if his party were in government it would look at prioritising investment in the health sector.

Tufton, in brushing aside the PNP’s claims, pointed to the recent creation of additional space at the Savanna-la-Mar facility.

“I don’t have all the details on the profile of the hospital but it’s a hospital that sees hundreds of people on a daily basis. We just retrofitted or converted the COVID ward into an outpatient clinic. It’s air-conditioned and has new bathroom facilities. It’s really nice, actually, and when you go there and talk to the patients you will see that they find it much more comfortable,” he said.

During the PNP meeting, party Vice-President Ian Hayles had expressed concern about the level of care the facility was able to provide.

“I took today and I visited the hospital with the leader. There is not one machine working at the hospital; and if you go to the Savanna-la-Mar hospital the chances of you coming out alive are very low. That is what you are faced with under the Jamaica Labour Party,” Hayles claimed.

However, the health minister has rejected that assessment.

“If a machine breaks down, we find the money and fix it, okay, because the machine needs to operate — and we do that every day from time to time,” he told the Observer.

“The operating theatres work, they do surgeries you know. And they just installed a new boiler [that cost more than] $100 million — which is good not just for laundry but for dietary [needs]. It is brand new and replaces one that was probably 100 years old. And, there are some other equipment that have been added to the system here,” added Tufton.

“So I am not saying it’s perfect — I would never say that because to do that would be to mislead — but I think we have to be careful [that] we don’t give the impression that it is non-functional. It’s very functional and the patients are benefiting; the people at Sav are benefiting every day. But, it’s always a work in progress and there’s always resources to be spent if needed, particularly on essential things,” assured the minister.