CRH’s experience to be documented – Tufton

HEALTH MINISTER Dr Christopher Tufton says that he is planning to table a motion in Parliament for the ongoing restoration work at the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in Montego Bay, St James, to be documented for historical purposes as such documentation would emphasise the need to take better care of the nation’s critical infrastructure.

Tufton made the announcement following a tour of the Type A hospital last Friday, where he took time out to assess the progress of the restoration work at the facility, which was recently hit with a fresh outbreak of noxious fumes.

“One of the things I ’d like to do is the development of a case study on the ‘Cornwall experience.’ I am going to ensure that it is done for historical purposes, and I’m going to take [this proposal] to the executive arm of Government and table it in Parliament, because I believe there are lessons to be learned from this experience,” said Tufton.

“It is a lesson for us that we’ve had to come to this point to appreciate the impor tance of protecting and taking care of our infrastructure, and the hospital ser vices, in this instance,” continued Tufton.

“To not learn those lessons would make us vulnerable to repeat history in a negative way, which is clearly not what we want for this country.”

In 2016, an outbreak of the noxious fumes from the CRH’s ventilation system resulted in several services being relocated from the hospital’s main building. Last June, and more recently, in February of this year, the fumes resulted in several nurses at the hospital falling ill on the job.

Tufton said that the CRH’s restoration work will allow the hospital to provide better service to patients.

“The vision is that come the end of the year, we will have a facility that will be relaunched as a new and improved facility that will serve the needs of the community much better,” said Tufton.