FROM concerns about chronic staff shortages to fears that informal settlements could jeopardise planned upgrades, Members of Parliament (MPs) from both sides of the aisle used Thursday’s Health Hurricane Response Programme (HHRP) briefing to press the Ministry of Health and Wellness for assurances that the ambitious rebuilding exercise will deliver lasting improvements to health care in western Jamaica.

The issues were raised during a working breakfast at which parliamentarians from the five parishes most affected by Hurricane Melissa were updated on the Government’s $6.04-billion HHRP.

The three-year initiative will rehabilitate 101 health centres and the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital while transforming 41 priority facilities under the Primary Health Care Reform Programme to provide expanded services closer to communities.

The facilities will also be upgraded to meet Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Smart Health Facility standards, making them more resilient to future disasters through features such as stronger roofs, solar energy systems, and rainwater harvesting.

One of the main concerns came from Opposition MP for Hanover Western Heatha Miller-Bennett, who argued that upgrading buildings alone would not solve long-standing problems if health centres remained short of doctors and nurses.

“Generally, in Western Hanover, these facilities currently are understaffed, grossly understaffed, and as you seek to expand, I would imagine there must be some plans to get additional nurses and doctors on a regular basis… so that ‘Miss Jane’ who goes to the clinic… she’s sure that the doctor will be there instead of going and then there is no doctor and that’s just a reality that exists,” said Miller-Bennett.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie agreed that the current model often leaves patients unsure when services will be available, and said the reform seeks to address both staffing and service delivery.

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton added that staffing would be tied to the new classification of health centres, with comprehensive facilities receiving additional doctors, specialists and diagnostic services.

He said the Government was also pursuing a broader recruitment strategy by bonding people who are granted Barry Wint Memorial Scholarships, introduced in 2024 as part of a strategic response to build capacity, fill gaps and strengthen the health system to ensure that every citizen, whether rural or urban, regardless of circumstance, has access to quality care.

“We are starting to see the returns of Barry Wint [scholarships] now because people are graduating and more people are coming on-board and if we can’t find them locally, we’re going to bring them in from abroad, and I know there is a little uneasiness about that but we are hoping that over the next number of months, we’ll be able to solve that problem with that strategy,” Tufton explained.

Health Hurricane Response Programme director Karl McKenzie Chin (left) speaks with Government MP representing St Elizabeth South Western Floyd Green during Thursday’s working breakfast on the programme where parliamentarians received updates on the Government’s $6.04-billion initiative to restore and modernise hurricane-damaged health facilities across western Jamaica. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

Questions over when residents would begin seeing work on the ground also featured prominently.

Opposition MP representing for St James South Nekeisha Burchell pointed out that documents circulated by the ministry listed all eight health facilities in her constituency as being in phase two of the programme, but said no work had begun.

Tufton explained that the programme remains largely in the planning stage.

“Not everything that is happening is visible. So the architectural designs that are taking place, you wouldn’t see any manifestations of that in the field. It would be more the architects visiting the site, getting the parameters, then withdrawing to their space to do whatever needs to be done. So I am sure there’s some work taking place, either visibly or behind the scenes,” he said.

Programme director Karl McKenzie Chin added to the minister’s response, indicating that construction is expected to begin around October once designs, cost estimates and statutory approvals have been completed.

Meanwhile MP for Trelawny Northern Tova Hamilton, who sits on the Government benches, warned that informal settlements surrounding the Deeside Health Centre in her constituency could threaten planned expansion if they are not addressed quickly.

Tufton immediately instructed ministry officials and the National Land Agency to note the concern, saying affected properties would have to be properly mapped and protected before works progressed.

In his contribution MP for St Elizabeth South Western Floyd Green welcomed work already completed at the Black River Hospital and sought an update on studies examining whether the facility should eventually be relocated. Green also questioned how the health ministry intended to attract doctors to rural communities.

Tufton said ecological and engineering studies were expected to be completed within the next two months before any final decision was made on the future location of the Black River Hospital.

He also maintained that while infrastructure improvements were critical, healthcare delivery would ultimately depend on matching each upgraded facility with the appropriate complement of medical personnel based on its designation under the reformed primary health-care system.