MONTEGO BAY, St James — Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton has challenged the Jamaica Medical Doctors’ Association (JMDA) to provide details it says it has about qualified individuals available to fill the void left by more than 200 Cuban medical personnel who recently left Jamaica.

“There has been a call recently by the JMDA suggesting that we hire locals to fill the gap, now that the Cubans have returned [to their country],” said Tufton.

“I just want to make it clear that the Cubans were here to fill positions that we had difficulties finding locals for. To the extent that those locals are available, and the JMDA has information on that, then send that information in to us. We’ll be more than happy to hire them once they’re qualified,” Tufton added.

The minister was speaking during a press conference at the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in Montego Bay on Thursday.

He insisted that the issue of filling the available posts is complex.

“The positions of these nurses and doctors, in most cases, are that they were the specialist nurses. Their role was to fill gaps that we have that we could not fill with locals, because locals were not available, and the challenge continues to be how to fill those slots,” Tufton explained.

As previously reported by the Jamaica Observer, efforts are being made to lure home Jamaicans working in the medical field abroad.

“In Kingston, we have, at a corporate level, about 70 interviews for diaspora personnel who have applied for positions based on ads that were put out in the diaspora. I think those interviews are ongoing,” Tufton said.

He also reiterated that the health ministry is looking at other countries and discussions are advanced to bring in specialists capable of manning critical areas of the Jamaica’s health system.

“We are now on the cusp of signing agreements with Nigeria and Ghana. We have also engaged one hospital health system in India — Apollo. The recruitment — to the extent that we don’t have the talent here — of those talents [is] continuing. We do anticipate over the next few months to be able to fill out those positions,” Tufton predicted.

CRH is among the country’s health facilities impacted by the departure of the Cuban medical professionals. The health minister said of the 27 medical professionals who departed CRH, the bulk of them, 22 were nurses; others were doctors and radiotherapists for the oncology cancer treatment unit.

“We’ve had a few replacements for those specific roles, but we do have challenges in radiotherapy in the oncology suite, where four positions are vacant… We are making provisions to bring those persons in,” the minister said.

Tufton told the media briefing that CRH has added to its staff 25 registered nurses, 18 patient care assistants, six additional doctors, one junior resident, five senior house officers, two dental interns, and one medical technologist. However this does not address the loss of Cuban expertise.

In a bid to minimise the fallout from the departures, administrators at CRH have made adjustments to work hours.

“I just toured the facility, and the leaders there have said that they have doubled up the staff that they have to continue the regular scheduling, but it’s very difficult. Work continues, but we do have a gap in terms of four radiotherapists,” Tufton said.

Last month, the Jamaican and Cuban governments failed reach an agreement on new parameters under which Cuban medical staff could work in Jamaica.

The Jamaican Government’s official position is that Havana failed to agree to terms that conform to Jamaican law and international conventions. Critics, including Havana, have described the development as Jamaica bending to US pressure. The move ended a more than 50-year relationship that provided thousands of Jamaicans with access to affordable, quality health care.