Dear Editor,

On May 25 my father was rushed to the Cornwall Regional Hospital — a Type A facility in our western region — seeking urgent medical care for severe chest, arm, abdominal, and back pain. Instead of receiving dignity and targeted emergency intervention, he spent 22 agonising hours sitting upright in a chair in the emergency room’s “patio” area. It was in that very chair that he succumbed to his illness. Our family is left shattered, not just by his sudden death, but by the cold, unacceptable conditions under which he spent his final hours.

The systemic failures only multiplied after his passing. Our grievance meeting with hospital staff was conducted in a store room. We were told he was treated for acute coronary syndrome and a myocardial infarction (heart attack), yet the resident doctor admitted the hospital lacked the facilities to test for critical cardiac enzymes like creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and creatine kinase-MB (CKMB). His medical file was unavailable during our meeting. Later, despite being promised a post-mortem examination because he died less than 24 hours after admission, we received a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death citing “Fatal Sepsis” and “Urinary Tract Infection”, with the box checked: No post-mortem necessary.

This is a catastrophic failure of patient safety, transparency, and basic human dignity. It should never be acceptable to leave a patient suffering from potential cardiac symptoms sitting in a chair for nearly 24 hours. It should never be normal to watch a patient walk to a bathroom while suspecting a major cardiac event. It should never be normal to use a “patio” as a permanent holding space for the vulnerable.

A few months ago, our dedicated nurses staged a protest over these exact unhealthy working conditions. Did their voices fall on deaf ears? These systemic deficiencies do not just guarantee poor patient outcomes; they actively put the hard-earned licences of our health-care workers at risk. These failures predate any recent natural disasters; they are chronic, institutionalised shortcomings.

I must publicly ask the prime minister, the minister of health, and our government officials: Where do your loved ones go when they are sick? Would you be comfortable with them sitting on a plastic chair in pain for a day? What is being done to ensure the people of Jamaica are treated with pride and dignity when they are at their most vulnerable?

As a family, we say enough is enough. We demand that a post-mortem examination be conducted immediately. Furthermore, we demand clear timelines and concrete evidence from the Ministry of Health detailing what is being done to fix the working conditions and patient safety protocols at Cornwall Regional Hospital.

Death may be inevitable, but dying without dignity due to a broken system is something we will never normalise.

Dacia Chambers