ST JAMES, Jamaica — The Ministry of Health and Wellness has revealed that additional ward space, in the form of a dome, will be set up at the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) next month.

Health and Wellness Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, told reporters that this is being done to tackle the issue of overcrowding in the accident and emergency (A&E) unit at CRH.

“By the third or so of February, we will see a 100-bed dome that will be placed just outside of A&E which will add another significant capacity to ward space here at Cornwall,” the minister said.

The dome, he explained, is being acquired and set up through a collaboration involving the health ministry, the National Health Fund and a non-governmental organisation outside of Jamaica.

“We are hoping it will land in the island the first of February. They are going to be building a base starting next week to place it on and then the process of installation will take us a few weeks and that’s why we say maybe the third week in February, certainly hopefully not beyond the end of February,” said Tufton.

The minister made the revelation during a visit to the St James-based health institution on Saturday afternoon.

The facility has been in the news, in particular, after staff members staged a protest about overcrowding at the facility, due to the lack of wards and other issues. The space was already cramped but was made worse after Hurricane Melissa damaged sections of the facility which is being housed temporarily at the Mount Salem Health Centre while renovations continue on CRH’s main building.

Minister Tufton said they are working to also rehabilitate the impacted ward spaces in the temporary A and E unit.

“The contractors are active, they’re on the ground, I just went and toured, and we do expect a number of those wards to come on stream. Over the next week, this week, you’ll see some coming on stream,” he said.

He is however urging individuals to understand the situation as they work to remedy the challenges.

“I just want to appeal to all concerned to understand the context of what we are working with, it’s a very difficult situation, but just to say that there is a remedy that is being pursued and that remedy is to restore the bed space so that the doctors and nurses can then triage and do what they need to do to get patients who need be in hospital, in hospital,” he said.