WRHA hospitals ready for Melissa amid bed space concerns
Published:Thursday | October 23, 2025 | 12:07 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Dr Delroy Fray, the clinical coordinator for the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA), says hospitals under the region’s umbrella are well-equipped to face any emergencies that may arise should Tropical Storm Melissa impact the region, despite lingering concerns about bed space capacity.
In an interview with The Gleaner yesterday, Fray said all the hospitals under the WRHA’s jurisdiction, to include the Cornwall Regional Hospital [CRH] in St James, the Noel Holmes Hospital in Hanover, the Savanna-la-Mar Public Hospital in Westmoreland, and the Falmouth Public General Hospital in Trelawny, have committees in place to address issues in the event of a natural disaster.
“Every storm season, we have a committee which looks at everything we have and prepares accordingly. We are prepared in terms of personnel, medication, and anything else we may need to add,” said Fray.
“However, in terms of beds, we would not be prepared, because we are always having our patients waiting in the accident and emergency departments at the hospitals for beds,” said Fray. “If the storm hits and we need beds, usually between 24 to 48 hours before the storm hits, we normally send home patients who can go home so we can clear up bed spaces, and we do that in all our hospitals in the event that we have a lot of casualties coming in.”
Up to yesterday morning, the Meteorological Service of Jamaica was advising that Tropical Storm Melissa, the 13th named storm system for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, could possibly make landfall and start affecting the island as early as today. Melissa, which was last evening to the southeast of Kingston, was expected to make a gradual turn to the northwest and north-northwest during the next few days.According to the Met Service, Jamaica could start experiencing stronger winds associated with the storm, and that heavy rain measuring 11 to 12 inches is likely to cover several parishes, particularly eastern and southern parishes.
Speaking to the readiness of personnel assigned to the WRHA, Fray said all doctors have been advised to be on standby for emergency cases.
“We have a policy where we remind all our doctors that once there is an impending storm, you can be called out any time of the day or night to work if needs be. All those preparatory measures are in place, and we have things like extra flashlights and other emergency equipment on hand,” said Fray. “The committee that is present at the CRH (Cornwall Regional Hospital) is also present at all the other hospitals, and we set the template for storm readiness from a week ago, so I am hoping they would have done what needs to be done.”
Meanwhile, the St James Health Department’s parish manager, Lennox Wallace, told The Gleaner that all of the parish’s emergency shelters are ready to provide service, with all shelter managers in a state of readiness if Melissa should arrive. Furthermore, the parish infirmary is also ready, and drain cleaning has been done.
“I just want to tell our residents who are on the low-lying areas and banks of gullies to make themselves safe and to report to a shelter if they believe they are not safe. We are ready to provide food, bedding, and any other supplies they need to navigate the storm,” said Wallace.