MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Against the backdrop of some hospitals, like here in Mandeville, bursting at the seams, Dr Christopher Tufton says the problem is not at crisis level.

“I am not one to promote panic and the term crisis does give that impression. I think there are challenges and I believe every challenge can be overcome if everybody plays their part, so I am not going to elevate it to a crisis. What I will say is a surge, an abnormal occurrence caused by a hurricane and the build back after a hurricane which is requiring health-care workers and the health system to go beyond the call of duty and to make that extra effort and sacrifice while we try to resolve it,” Tufton, the health and wellness minister, said.

He also implored Jamaicans to control their health to avoid hospital care.

“… They must understand that if they come to the hospital and it is not absolutely necessary they are going to wait and they are going to wait a long time, because you have to deal with the life-saving procedures first,” added Tufton.

He was responding to a question posed by the Jamaica Observer on Friday during a tour of Mandeville Regional Hospital which he labelled a “rescue centre” for western Jamaica.

“It is good that people know they can seek refuge at an institution, but it places a lot of stress on the staff,” he said.

Tufton announced that as a part of the response to the overcrowding, a new ward is being built to accommodate more patients.

“There is a facility that is being built to house an additional 30 to 40 or so patients… There is [also] the coordination between the staff at Black River [Hospital] and here, which has seen some of the staff being here to assist and bolster the response of the team,” he said.

He said the Ministry of Health will have to get the primary health care system to be more vigilant out in the field to help mitigate overcrowding at hospitals.

“… Do more home visits and to encourage Jamaicans to visit their health centres [and] maybe adjust the opening hours to give more time,” he said while reiterating his appeal to Jamaicans.

“Follow [your] medication regime, protect [yourself] against unnecessary trauma or hurt, whether it is the bike accidents or flu, go to your health centre, don’t come to the hospital if you don’t have to…” he added.

He said up to Thursday Mandeville was 78 per cent above its capacity of 250 beds for inpatient care and 50 per cent for outpatient care.

“They are somewhere in the region of 350 to 360 [inpatients], that is a significant increase. The logical impact of that is that people are in makeshift areas within the compound of the hospital being treated by doctors. The doctors and nurses are doing the best they can to treat, but these are makeshift areas, so in the hallways, in makeshift privacy corners and I could go on. Those numbers are not going down… [It] is creating significant logistics and management of the patients,” said Tufton.

He said Black River Hospital, which was basically destroyed by Hurricane Melissa last October, has between 30 and 40 beds, a sharp drop from its normal capacity of 150 beds.

Tufton warned that the overcrowding is likely to continue until March when the rebuilding of other hospitals, like Black River and Falmouth, are completed.

“More beds will be added to those areas when we can get the population back in a routine… hopefully controlling some of the conditions which will lead to less [accident and emergency] cases,” he said.

Tufton also said more staff, mainly nurses and doctors, will be added to the cadre at Mandeville Regional.

“We do expect a tapering off because we will have more beds, more doctors and nurses, more primary health care facilities being serviced and Mandeville Regional hopefully will return to normality,” said Tufton.

Following the tour of Mandeville Regional Dr Tufton was scheduled to visit Black River and Savanna-La-Mar hospitals on Friday before continuing tours on Saturday at Noel Holmes Hospital, Cornwall Regional, and Falmouth Hospital.

Workmen building the foundation for a new ward at Mandeville Regional Hospital last Friday.