Dear Editor,

The plight of Jamaica’s public hospitals has reached a breaking point, and nowhere is this more evident than at the Mandeville Regional Hospital and the Percy Junor Hospital in Spalding, Manchester.

The recent Gleaner and Jamaica Observer reports on the overcrowding at Mandeville Regional Hospital paint a grim picture of a facility bursting at the seams, with daily admissions far outstripping available bed spaces. Patients are left waiting in tents and corridors, while exhausted staff struggle to cope with the relentless demand.

The situation at Percy Junor Hospital is no less troubling. As a Type C facility serving communities across Manchester and Clarendon, it has long been under strain, but the current surge in patient numbers has exposed its limited capacity and resources. Both hospitals are now forced to absorb cases from surrounding parishes, further compounding the crisis.

This is not merely a matter of inconvenience, it is a matter of life and death. Overcrowding compromises the quality of care, increases the risk of medical errors, and places unbearable pressure on our health-care workers. Yet while patients languish in overcrowded wards, we continue to hear reports of wanton waste of financial resources at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI). Such mismanagement is unconscionable at a time when regional hospitals are collapsing under the weight of demand.

The Government must confront the reality: Our health-care system is at crisis level. Piecemeal fixes will not suffice. What is urgently needed is a comprehensive reform agenda that addresses:

• infrastructure expansion at regional hospitals to match population growth

• equitable resource allocation to ensure smaller hospitals like Percy Junor are not neglected

• accountability in financial management, especially at flagship institutions like UHWI

• investment in human resources, ensuring staff are adequately supported and compensated

Jamaicans deserve a health-care system that is resilient, efficient, and humane. The current state of affairs is a betrayal of that promise. If decisive action is not taken, the overcrowding crisis will only deepen, with devastating consequences for public health and national morale.

Leecent Wallace

leecentw@yahoo.com