As health services at the field hospital established in Black River, St Elizabeth get underway, another unit is scheduled to be set up in Falmouth, Trelawny, in the coming days, according to Minister of Health, Christopher Tufton.

“Yesterday I went to the airport with the Spanish/EU ambassador to meet 76 citizens of Spain, doctors, nurses, technicians and engineers; they are also going to be deploying a field hospital, I understand that it is on its way from Kingston, it should be in Falmouth by now and we are hoping that over the next couple of days a second full-fledged field hospital will be mounted in Falmouth,” said Tufton during a press briefing on Thursday.

The field hospital in Falmouth, which Tufton is due to visit on Friday, should be equipped with services including emergency care, surgery, paediatrics, traumatology, physiotherapy, psychology, general anaesthetic services, radiology, lab, pharmacy and more.

“That will take a lot of pressure off of the Falmouth hospital but will serve beyond Falmouth, it will go over into St James, depending on where the challenges are, so that’s a positive development and we want to thank the people of Spain and the European Union,” he said.

Tufton said the government is working on a third field hospital, similarly equipped, to be deployed at Cornwall Regional in St James, in partnership with the people of Barbados.

The Savanna-la-Mar hospital is continuing emergency support services supported by a medical team from a non-governmental organisation, and the government is looking at getting a tier one field hospital or field health centre for the area in partnership with Samaritan’s Purse.

“From there we will operate to go into the hills and give support; we are exploring the possibility of a field hospital between White House and Belmont and some conversations are taking place with possible partners to see if that is possible …it would be a separate standalone facility because that area was ravaged terribly and logistics of movement into Sav or Black River may be difficult,” Tufton said.

The health minister revealed that just over 50 patients had been treated at the other field hospital in Black River in the last 24 hours.

The government has sought assistance from the United Nations in managing the large amounts of donations being sent to the country, to ensure aid is distributed effectively.

– Dana Malcolm