NEGRIL, Westmoreland —A much-needed ambulance as well as a community dental and women’s health clinic valued at more than $16 million were officially dedicated to the Negril community on Saturday.

The project was made possible by Jamaicans Abroad Helping Jamaicans At Home (JAHJAH) Foundation, supported by several partners including Ministry of Health and Wellness, Rotary Club of Negril, and Negril Chamber of Commerce.

The clinic and Jamaica Emergency Medical Services (JEMS) ambulance service have been welcomed by the Negril community, with 72-year-old Barbara Campbell — who was involved in an accident a few years ago and is also recovering from a mild stroke — expressing joy that the ambulance will be avaliable to people in need of the service, free of charge.

“I am feeling very good because sometimes when I am sick and I call the Negril ambulance, they are not in. I would have to wait, or sometimes my son would take me, so I am feeling very good about this one for the area,” related Campbell.

Founder and CEO of JAHJAH Foundation Dr Trevor Dixon argued that there is a high demand for the services being offered at the clinic.

“The demand for dental care and cervical cancer screening has been so great in Westmoreland that before it was even completed — once we had the chairs in and all the equipment running — we have been seeing patients. Once they submit an application they are pretty much in queue to use the facility when we are not here. The only criteria is that it has to be free to the public,” stated Dixon, who is a Jamaican-born medical doctor based in New York.

Medical officer for Westmoreland Dr Marcia Graham thanked JAHJAH Foundation on behalf of the Westmoreland Public Health Services and Ministry of Health and Wellness.

“We are very pleased and excited about the partnership that has been extended to offer us this much-needed opportunity to have this facility in the Negril area,” said Graham.

In the meantime, hotelier and chairman of Destination Assurance Council for the Negril Resort Area Richard Wallace noted that the community has been working with JAHJAH Foundation for years to reach this point.

“It shows what public-private partnerships can bring for the area, and we are very happy that they persevered through all the challenges,” said Wallace.

He pointed out that the ambulance and the clinic will be of benefit to residents and members of the business community.

“It is great for Negril. We have a new ambulance now and a new medical facility. For us as business operators in the area, we operate within this community and so we need a healthy community in which to operate, which is good for business… This helps a lot, and we are grateful,” added Wallace.

Meanwhile president of Negril Chamber of Commerce and director of Rotary Club of Negril Elaine Allen Bradley pointed to some of the challenges faced to get the clinic to this stage.

“We are trying to plug some of the gaps that the Government is trying to [fill] but haven’t got the funds to do it, so with [the] collaboration of all these entities, we are able to help. The only drawback is sometimes with the bureaucracy,” argued Allen Bradley.

“It is hard to get things done because bringing the container onto the grounds of the health centre was a hard challenge. Eventually, we did. To get the ambulance into the country was another challenge,” Allen Bradley added in reference to the 10 months it took to get the ambulance cleared from the wharf.

However, they overcame the hurdle with the assistance of the former Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke.

“The [then] minister of finance cleared it for us so we did not have to pay that, hence, we have it here now… We are glad that Prime Minister [Andrew] Holness is now saying that they are going to make things easier to do. We know that there is a process, and we know that you have to go through protocols because a lot of devious people will flaunt the system,” added Allen Bradley.

The clinic and the ambulance will be managed through a partnership involving JAHJAH Foundation, Rotary Club of Negril, Negril Chamber of Commerce, and Ministry of Health and Wellness, while staffing will be provided by qualified volunteers.

The clinic is currently housed in a refurbished trailer container on the compound of Negril Health Centre, while the ambulance is temporarily being housed at Charela Inn hotel in Negril.

Dixon said plans are currently in place to create an ambulance depot on a parcel of land that is currently in the custody of Negril Chamber of Commerce.

He added that the constant need for parts for an American-made Ford E250 six-seater ambulance, which was donated to the Emergency Medical Services department of Negril Fire Station by Issa Trust Foundation in 2017, fuelled the need to obtain a new vehicle suitable for the community.

“We chose the Toyota Hiace because, number one, it is right-hand drive, which is safer for an ambulance, and number two, the parts are readily available in Jamaica because it is a Toyota Hiace,” said Dixon.