SEVERAL overseas health workers who rushed to the island in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Melissa are now preparing to pull up stakes, but Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton is not worried as he is confident that local health professionals are up to the task and ready to continue duties.

Speaking Thursday morning during a post-Melissa media briefing, Tufton pointed out that the external health workers are now disengaging.

“We had hundreds of health workers coming in to support our health workers in the field. Over the last six weeks we have seen a number of them come in, including the field hospitals, and they have been able to fill the gaps and we have been able to work with our local team members to begin to restore some sense of normality.

“The Spanish field hospital at Falmouth was dismantled and they have moved on to other challenges elsewhere in the world, so Falmouth is on its own again. Samaritan’s Purse will gradually move out, starting this month, but they will leave that field hospital which we will assume control of,” said Tufton as he declared that the health ministry has a transition plan.

“[I] just want to reassure the public that to the extent that our external support teams have been here with us and are now looking to leave over the next weeks into months, we are transitioning and we have developed a plan,” he stated.

In the meantime, Tufton said Noel Holmes Hospital in Westmoreland, Black River Hospital in St Elizabeth, and Falmouth Hospital are all the subject of a study which will determine their future.

He said the suitability of the locations for the three hospitals, which are all on the coastline in the respective parishes, is being assessed through a partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank.

According to Tufton, while remedial works are being done on what remains of the facilities to ensure that services can be delivered, the restoration will be limited in scope until the assessment is complete, and a determination made as to whether they should be rebuilt in the current location.

Five hospitals and several other medical facilities, including health centres, suffered damage when Hurricane Melissa hit the island in October.

— Alicia Dunkley-Willis