ANNOTTO BAY, St Mary — Pointing out that there are challenges filling some specialist positions at Annotto Bay Hospital, Member of Parliament for St Mary South Eastern Christopher Brown says he will do his best to ensure the medical facility has the resources needed to effectively serve the public.

“We want to work closely together to ensure that we serve, when both of us are called to service, so that we can be able to serve the citizens, patients, clients and general public to the best of our abilities,” Brown told the hospital’s management team.

Brown, who was voted into office during the September 3 General Election, was at the hospital last Friday as part of his orientation for the role.

“The hospital has 370 members of staff… One of our main areas is that… we are having challenges in filling spaces for specialised doctors since we have been upgraded to a Type B hospital,” Brown noted.

Director of Nursing Services Matron Claudia Hardy-McLennon provided details.

“We have our full complement of nurses, porters, attendants; it is the area of specialised nurses [that] we are lacking. As you know, nurses would move through the system and then migrate,” she pointed out.

Brown assured that he would make representation to all relevant stakeholders.

“Let me remind you that I am here to work on your behalf, to ensure that you are able to execute your tasks at hand and that quality services can be delivered to the patients, residents, and clients,” he said.

In giving an overview of upgrades being done at the hospital, Chief Executive Officer Dale Brown said construction is ongoing for a new physiotherapy building and lab while the air conditioning units are now being put in place. He said the “building is 80 per cent complete”.

Work began at the facility in June 2020, with the National Health Fund financing the $180-million price tag.

— Ingrid Henry