ST JAMES, Jamaica — Individuals seeking services at the new Accident and Emergency (A&E) building at Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) have been urged to play a role in its upkeep by Member of Parliament for St James Central, Heroy Clarke.

Speaking at the facility’s official opening, Clarke said the building had cost a significant amount of taxpayers’ money and that citizens therefore had a responsibility to ensure it remained in good condition for years to come.

“This means no vandalism, no theft of fixtures, linen or equipment, no graffiti on these walls, no abuses of our nurses and doctors, no littering and no defacing of this beautiful new building,” he appealed.

“If you see something wrong, report it. If you use the bathroom, leave it as you would want to meet it. If you sit on a chair treat it as it is your own, maintenance costs millions every year,” he added.

The new facility opened nine years after the hospital’s closure in 2017, following air quality issues that forced the Government to relocate patients, staff and services to other areas on the hospital grounds and locations in and around St James.

The A&E department is currently housed at the Mount Salem Health Centre, but that arrangement is expected to change shortly.

“Every dollar we spend repairing what we deliberately destroy is a dollar we cannot spend on medicine, more beds or on our staff,” he remarked.

Clarke therefore urged everyone who uses the facility to take responsibility for its care as though it were their own.

“Ownership must begin today. This is not the government hospital, this is our hospital so let us leave here today celebrating but also committing to partner with the government to protect this investment ,” he said.

“To respect the professionals who work here and to ensure that 20 years from now this A&E still looks and functions as good as it does today,” he added.