The Ministry of Health and Wellness is to spend an initial $1.7 billion on activities to bring health facilities back to full operation following the recent passage of Hurricane Beryl.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, said the works which are to be completed over a six-month period, form the first phase of the Hurricane Beryl Health Rehabilitation Plan that has been approved by Cabinet.
Some 82 or 23 per cent of all health facilities nationally reportedly sustained major damage, that is, a structural issue that impacted the ordinary running of the facility due to the hurricane. Of the total number of major damage sustained, 41 per cent were impacts to roofing, while impacts to windows and doors, along with damage to electrical supplies were also identified among the major damage to health facilities across the country.
“It is to be noted that 76 per cent of the total costs for the rehabilitation of the health system are in the Southern Regional Health Authority (Clarendon, Manchester and St Elizabeth) and the Western Regional Health Authority (Westmoreland, Hanover, St James, and Trelawny),” said Tufton.
“Thankfully, some 23 of our 26 hospitals are now back to normal operations. The remaining three – Black River, Noel Holmes and Falmouth General – are still operating in emergency (only) mode,” he added.
Hurricane Beryl, the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic Season, affected Jamaica in the early morning of Wednesday, July 3 as a category four event. Four days later, the island was further impacted by a tropical wave.
“The second phase of the plan will address repairs to parts of the buildings that have been damaged, but which do not affect operations, and is to be implemented within six to 12 months,” the minister said.
“The third and final phase will see activities that will make the facilities resilient to natural disasters like hurricanes, and meet the business continuity standards for health. This programme of work should be implemented within 24 months or more,” added Tufton.
