Renovation works intensifying at Noel Holmes Hospital after Melissa damage
HANOVER, Jamaica — Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has said that with a month to completion, the ongoing renovation works at the Noel Holmes Hospital in this parish, are being carried out in a controlled manner with little to no patient overcrowding.
“It’s one of the ones I’ve visited that seems to be under control in terms of no overcrowding, according to the clinical team and the administrative team,” relayed Tufton. He was speaking with journalists following a tour of the institution on Saturday.
The visit formed part of a wider visit to six hospitals — the Mandeville Regional Hospital, the Black River Hospital, the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital, the Cornwall Regional Hospital and the Falmouth Public General Hospital — that suffered varying levels of damaged by the category 5 storm. The revelation of no overcrowding at the 60-bed facility is in sharp contrast to the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital, which was originally designed to accommodate 218 beds, and is currently housing 298 patients between the main building and the field hospital.
The minister noted that the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department at Noel Holmes was relatively comfortable with 40 patients being seen and treated each day, according to information provided to him by the head of that department.
“They have support from a Spanish-based NGO, which has an A&E with an operating theatre as a field hospital and a few beds, and they are working very well together,” said Tufton.
The minister said work is actively progressing across several critical areas of the hospital compound — the nurses’ quarters, the dietary development, and the maternity ward.
“They have actually removed the roof, reinforced the building, [and are] planning to slab those buildings,” Tufton shared.
Meanwhile, the minister also provided an update on renovations works at the nearby Lucea Health Centre which has been reroofed. He said staff will be moving into the building within the upcoming week to facilitate primary care.
“There are still some areas that still need some roofing work, but I am comfortable because the staff there seems comfortable that the work is progressing,” he said.
— Anthony Lewis
The front of the main building of the Noel Holmes Hospital in Hanover.
