As hundreds of overseas doctors, nurses and relief workers mobilised to Jamaica in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, a little-known arm of the Ministry of Health and Wellness quietly became the linchpin that ensured life-saving help reached patients without compromising safety or the law.

Led by Executive Director Courtney Cephas, the National Healthcare Enhancement Foundation became a central coordinating force during the emergency, streamlining the arrival of international medical teams, clearing donated supplies, and fast-tracking approvals at a time when Jamaica’s health system was under intense strain.

Established in 2022, the National Healthcare Enhancement Foundation operates as an in-house non-governmental arm of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, designed to strengthen partnerships, mobilise philanthropic support, and coordinate external assistance for Jamaica’s health sector.

The foundation was formally structured, staffed, and funded under the current Administration to address long-standing gaps in how overseas donations, medical missions, and international support are integrated into the public health system, particularly during emergencies.

Speaking at the Jamaica Observer Press Club last month, Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton said the foundation’s role during Hurricane Melissa underscored why it was formally restructured and expanded under his Administration.

He noted that the foundation proved decisive once Hurricane Melissa — a Category 5 system which struck Jamaica on October 28, 2025 — triggered an influx of international assistance, from field hospitals to volunteer medical missions, acknowledging that the foundation became the gateway through which overseas aid was processed, coordinated and deployed, ensuring speed without sacrificing oversight.

Tufton said the experience also exposed structural weaknesses in Jamaica’s Public Health Act, particularly in how quickly the system can respond to large-scale emergencies that require rapid international mobilisation.

He argued that while the country has disaster response protocols, the real-life demands of both the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago and a Category 5 hurricane revealed gaps that slow urgent action.

According to the minister, existing laws were not designed for the pace at which overseas doctors, nurses, and technical specialists had to be certified and deployed during the first critical weeks after Hurricane Melissa.

“We were able to turn around the credentials of nurses and doctors coming in, which was absolutely essential to the first three weeks. It was essential because we had to give breathing space to all doctors and nurses who were impacted, and while the teams from outside were going in, they had to also man their stations,” Tufton said.

He stressed that this process required careful balancing, as speed could not come at the expense of patient safety, a process that was spearheaded by the foundation.

“They have to submit their documentation. It has to go through Mr Cephas to the Nursing Council, to the Medical Council, to quickly validate because clearly, patient safety is also important. We have to balance the health with the patients’ safety, and that’s a process,” he explained.

That balance, Tufton noted, was made possible largely because the foundation exists as a dedicated coordinating body, capable of navigating regulatory requirements while working across government agencies and international partners.

Cephas, too, explained that the decision to formally establish and resource the foundation proved critical long before Hurricane Melissa struck.

“The foundation was established coming from a previous foundation. That was a very important decision, and a critical one to the ministry. The foundation was established… and it has been funded; we have our own office and staff, which is very important. It is because of that decision, that awareness by both the minister and the permanent secretary’s office, to make sure the foundation was established, why a lot of things that you’re seeing going on now [are happening], with the response to Melissa,” said Cephas.

He explained that the foundation had already been managing a steady flow of overseas health missions before the hurricane, putting systems and relationships in place that could be scaled up rapidly once the crisis hit.

On December 15 when Cephas addressed the Observer Press Club, he said that the foundation had facilitated “about 101 missions” up to October.

“That’s an average of seven missions per month,” Cephas said. “In November, 32 missions came in as a response to Hurricane Melissa.”

Of those missions, he said, the majority were international relief agencies, supported by volunteer medical teams that included doctors and nurses.

“Of that 32, 19 were international relief agencies, and 13 were from volunteers that came in part of those teams,” Cephas said.

Many of the agencies, he added, arrived fully self-sufficient, but only after complex logistical and administrative hurdles were cleared.

“They come in and they fully fund their operation. They can stand up with their own water system, power system, they stand up their infrastructure that they need to operate and all of that was facilitated through the foundation and that’s a huge effort,” he noted.

Cephas said the foundation’s work focused on removing bureaucratic delays during emergencies by coordinating closely with multiple State entities.

“All the bureaucracy, all the ease, we make sure it’s done and done fast, because we cultivate a relationship with all the agencies — Customs, ODPEM (Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management), the Ministry of Health, JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force), Jamaican Defence Force — all of these entities, we are partners with.”

At the time, he estimated that each international mission brought dozens of personnel into the country, creating a surge that would have overwhelmed traditional approval systems.

“On average, about at least 40 persons [were] coming on those teams,” Cephas said, noting that some missions arrived with 60 or even 100 personnel.

Tufton later estimated that, taken together, the response involved between 500 and 700 overseas workers at various times, including medical specialists, engineers and support staff.

As Jamaica reviews the lessons from Hurricane Melissa, Tufton said the experience has strengthened the case for modernising public health laws and formalising faster emergency triggers.

“I think there is a policy assessment around it that requires a revision,” he said, adding that future disaster responses would depend even more on partnerships and coordination.

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton explaining during the Jamaica Observer Press Club on December 15, 2025 that the National Healthcare Enhancement Foundation became the gateway through which overseas aid was processed, coordinated and deployed, ensuring speed without sacrificing oversight. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton (centre, in jacket) and other officials at a welcoming ceremony for more than 70 medical professionals from Spain at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston on November 5, 2025. The team came to Jamaica to provide assistance after Hurricane Melissa struck the island. (Photo: JIS)