FREEPORT, St James — In a move to strengthen the nation’s health infrastructure the Government has granted critical approvals for a comprehensive reconstruction and upgrade of health facilities severely impacted by Hurricane Melissa last October.

The initiative marks a significant step forward in the Ministry of Health’s ongoing effort to restore and modernise health-care services across multiple parishes.

“One of the reasons why I’m in this part of the parish is because I’m on my way to Hanover where we’re having a planning session where the full team is now looking at the health centres and hospitals that have been damaged [by] Melissa,” said Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton. “We’re now moving into another phase.”

He was addressing a media briefing last Thursday inside the conference room of the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) Technical Office in Freeport, St James.

Among the approvals is the engagement of specialised engineering firms to conduct detailed structural assessments of more than 100 health centres within the affected zones. These assessments will determine whether facilities require total abandonment in favour of complete reconstruction, reinforcement, or strategic modifications to enhance resilience against future hurricanes and other natural threats.

“These engineering firms will start, in short order, to begin what we consider to be phase two of the reconstruction. The workshop today is just aligning all the critical players in all five parishes, in the initial stages anyway, to what the objective of this response is in this phase,” explained Tufton.

A cornerstone of the rebuild strategy is the adoption of the Smart Health Facility standard, developed in partnership with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the United Kingdom Government. This standard emphasises hurricane-resistant construction, sustainable water catchment systems, and reliable power generation capabilities. Notably, Mandeville Health Centre in Manchester and Santa Cruz Health Centre in St Elizabeth that successfully withstood recent hurricanes are built to this standard, underscoring the effectiveness of this approach.

“The intention is to apply that standard to all 105 health centres. Part of the work of the engineering firms will be to assess not just the integrity, but also how we can build back stronger. Starting maybe in another week or so they’ll be out in the field to do that. We are having that workshop today to just go through, to make sure that everyone is on the same page,” Tufton outlined.

Cabinet has also approved the formation of a dedicated project team within the Ministry of Health, which will collaborate with the National Agency for Regional Administration to oversee medium- to long-term rebuilding efforts. This team will ensure that reconstruction projects are efficiently managed and aligned with national health priorities.

In addition to health centres, the Government has sanctioned assessments of three major hospitals — Black River in St Elizabeth, Falmouth in Trelawny, and Noel Holmes in Hanover — to evaluate their structural integrity and explore potential relocation to safer sites away from vulnerable coastal areas. These measures aim to safeguard critical health services and ensure continuity of care in the face of future environmental challenges.

The Government’s commitment extends to ongoing collaboration with international partners, including the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the European Union, which have supported health system strengthening programmes. Plans are underway to potentially expand these programmes to include the affected hospitals, with decisions expected by mid-year.

“We’re looking at the possibility of another phase of that programme, which would look at Black River, Falmouth, and Noel Holmes. The technical work is now being done to determine that,” stated Tufton.

Meanwhile, Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital in Westmoreland is set to benefit from a new accident and emergency (A&E) unit, with costing nearing completion and a contractor procurement process anticipated soon. The new A&E will be significantly larger and better equipped than the previous facility which sustained heavy damage during Hurricane Melissa.

Announced shortly before the September 2025 General Election, the project was fast-tracked due to severe damage to the current facility from the Category 5 storm.

In St James, there are 24 health centres across the parish, five of which have been damaged and are either not being used at all or only partially utilised. Roehampton is one of the five that was destroyed, and as a result new lands are being sought for the construction of a new and bigger facility. For now, a mobile health unit is offering services to the public on a temporary basis.