GRANGE HILL, Westmoreland — The construction of a makeshift infirmary to accommodate people abandoned by relatives is among the solutions being explored to tackle overcrowding that is affecting operations at the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital.

“We may have to build an interim facility, a makeshift facility on the compound to move those persons out,” revealed Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton.

“I would not be opposed to that [though] it would not be the best comfort and surroundings,” he added.

The minister was speaking with journalists in Westmoreland last Friday.

He conceded that the option being proposed would not be ideal.

“In a sense, it would mean an infirmary on the compound of the hospital, which is not something we want. But the truth is, it is better we do that and give persons who need a bed because they are ill and require to have that space,” Tufton noted.

“We have to find a way to move out some of the social cases. That is a real problem and we are discussing some possibilities to relocate,” he added.

Last week, news surfaced that the Type B facility was more than 35 per cent over its 209-bed capacity.

As hospital administrators noted then, on Friday Tufton also cited a combination of factors that have contributed to the hospital’s challenges.

“There’s COVID, there’s suspected dengue. There’s the flu season which has started. And of course, the parish of Westmoreland has an unfortunate reputation of having multiple bike accidents each day,” he said.

“We have about, up to the last few days ago, about 30-odd social cases. So you’re looking at maybe 12, 13 per cent of the bed space occupied by people who really are not supposed to be there. It is creating a problem because in Accident and Emergency [A&E], we have overcrowding,” he added.

Tufton added that efforts are being made to ensure that only genuine emergencies are treated at the A&E.

“You try to discourage non-emergency cases. So, some people who may be sick and end up in an Accident and Emergency, you try to encourage them not to stay,” stated Tufton.

Sav hospital, like many across the country, has long struggled under the weight of caring for social cases. In August, Mayor of Savanna-la-Mar Bertel Moore told the Jamaica Observer that the infirmary would accommodate six of the individuals now abandoned at the medical facility.

However, on Friday Tufton said “that number has been revised downwards and that there was some commitment [of] around two or three persons”.

He was unable to say if the patients have already been transferred and has moved to determine why there had been a reduction in the initial number proposed.

“Up to this point, I have not really had any encouraging words, to be honest. It has fallen back on public health to deal with these social cases. We don’t have a solution from the municipal authority,” the minister told the Observer.

Discussions with Moore and the wider municipal corporation, he said, have not yielded much progress.

“We can’t put the people out on the road. So, we do makeshift holding spaces to have persons in lounge chairs and so on where we can do that,” noted Tufton.

“For me, the long-term arrangement will have to be how we can expand a ward. The COVID ward that was built, which was a tent but with a solid foundation, now allows itself to have a second floor. We’re looking at that to see what the possibilities are. But I think, most importantly, we have to find a solution to the social cases,” he added.