KINGSTON, Jamaica – A total of 2,480 people, who attended the ministry of health and wellness’ job fair recently, met the qualification requirements for positions advertised and have moved on to the other round of interviews, the minister says.

Health Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, made the disclosure during a statement to the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Some 2,907 people were screened for the 600-plus available jobs across the public health sector, during the Career Expo and Employment Fair held at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus recently.

The minister said applications were received for a range of careers, including patient care assistants, community health aides, health records clerks, administrative assistants, customer service officers, and key positions within the ministry, among others.

“Through the employment fair, SERHA (South East Regional Health Authority), for example, was able to identify persons who are interested in filling positions that have been long advertised but no suitably qualified applicants were found. These positions include a regional pharmacist, medical physicists and a physiotherapist to serve in St Thomas,” Tufton said.

“The Southern Region also benefited greatly with the engagement of five nurses, who will be added to the cadre to serve at the Chapelton Community Hospital. This addition of nurses will now enable the hospital to offer 24-hour medical coverage to the population as was intended,” he added.
For the western region, seven doctors were identified from the employment fair, and the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) is now processing and finalising their engagement as medical officers of health.

Tufton further informed that the team at the ministry along with the regional health authorities and departments, will be completing the recruitment process for the advertised jobs and administering and analysing surveys from schools that attended the expo.

“This is to ascertain the further usefulness of the expo experience and support future interventions as we seek to galvanise human resources for health,” Tufton said.

He added that the ministry will also establish a database of jobseekers to facilitate continued recruitment and workforce planning and explore the feasibility of hosting annual or biennial career expos to sustain workforce development efforts.

At the job fair, the SERHA received the highest percentage of applications, accounting for 37.7 per cent of the total, while the ministry’s head office accounted for 29.7 per cent of applications, indicating significant interest in administrative and policy-related roles.

Tufton said the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) received 24.7 per cent of applications, “highlighting a strong response to opportunities in mental health and addiction services, which may reflect growing awareness of the importance of these areas”.

The WRHA, North East Regional Health Authority (NERHA), and the SRHA had much smaller shares, with 2.1 per cent, 1.3 per cent and 2.3 per cent, respectively.

The University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) accounted for 2.3 per cent of applications.
– JIS