SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — With victims of 30 motorcycle crashes seen at Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Unit each week, medical staff have welcomed the donation of a $50.6-million digital radiographic unit (DRU) which will allow for faster patient diagnosis and help reduce overcrowding.

“Many patients requiring X-rays are often confined in wheelchairs or beds,” said Dacia Wanliss, who works as a medical imaging practitioner at the hospital.

“With this machine, time…does not have to be wasted getting the patients out of the wheelchair or transferred onto the X-ray table [as] patients can be X-rayed in their wheelchair or bed. In addition, the results are immediate…which will reduce the time of diagnosis and prevent further deterioration of the patient. Treatment can begin right away, and that patient can be discharged earlier,” Wanliss added.

She was speaking during a recent ceremony in which CHASE Fund handed over medical equipment to the four public hospitals overseen by Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA). Donations included a barrier washer, operating theatre lights, a vital signs touchscreen machine, orthopaedic drills, and other essential medical equipment. According to WRHA Director of Operations and Maintenance Michelle-Ann Whyte-Chapman, the total value of the donation was $99.7 million.

“At CHASE we believe in quality health care,” the fund’s CEO Billy Heaven stated during the presentation. “We believe that it is a fundamental right that people must have access to modern medical technology. We seek to provide the best in technology, wherever we put in a piece of equipment.”

He pointed out that CHASE Fund has invested $63 billion in health care in Jamaica to date. This has benefited all public hospitals, University Hospital of the West Indies, and a number of health centres.

Whyte-Chapman spoke glowingly about the difference the donated equipment will make in people’s lives.

“These investments translate into improved patient outcomes, more timely and accurate diagnoses, enhanced surgical precision, and overall superior patient experiences,” she said.

Last year, more than 36,000 X-rays were done in the country’s western region. Of the ones done at Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital in connection with the 30 weekly motorcycle crashes, there were 2,265 surgeries. There has long been concern about the prevalence of motorcycles being involved in traffic crashes, and during the handover of the digital X-ray machine Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton pointed to the need for residents to take a more responsible approach to their well-being.

“The bike culture in this parish is a celebrated culture,” Tufton noted. “I am not asking you to deviate from your culture. We are going to have to understand how health works, and — as a part of the renewal, upgrading and expansion — we are going to also have to address behavioural changes within our society. We are never going to be able to build enough hospital beds to accommodate indiscipline, wayward or deviant behaviour that lead to these types of accidents.”

The health minister also spoke of the toll which traffic mishaps have on other sections of the health-care system.

“The emergency response mechanism in the country is operated on several fronts,” Tufton explained. “We work closely with the Ministry of Local Government, the fire department, where they tend to be the first responders to accident scenes — whether it is to get persons out of vehicles, because they have the cutting equipment, or in some instances to move people to hospitals because they, in some cases, have ambulances that are on site.”

Tufton underscored that reckless road use has pushed up the number of traffic crashes, putting demand on the health-care system, but argued that progress has been made in medical care since he became health minister.

Using Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital as an example, Tufton said there has been an increase in the number of beds — from 164 in 2016 to 205 in 2024 — the number of nurses moved from 154 to 180; the number of doctors moved from 34 to 99; and while there were two manual X-ray units in 2016, there was now a digital X-ray unit. In addition, Tufton said, the hospital has been fitted with a new boiler system and a new backup generator.

According to the health minister, plans are in place to build a new, more spacious accident and emergency wing, and he shared that the old one will be transformed into a new ward. He said details of these plans will be unveiled soon.