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Partnership signed with private entities to perform elective surgeries

Published:Monday | September 19, 2022 | 12:07 AMChristopher Thomas - Gleaner Writer - -
(From left) Dr. Keith-Lloyd Wedderburn, CEO/ managing director) Montego Bay Hospital and Urology Centre; Konrad Kirlew, director, of GWest; Dr Delroy Fray; Germaine Spencer from Baywest Wellness Hospital, Christopher Tufton and Samuel Afonso Diaz, country
Ashley Anguin
(From left) Dr. Keith-Lloyd Wedderburn, CEO/ managing director) Montego Bay Hospital and Urology Centre; Konrad Kirlew, director, of GWest; Dr Delroy Fray; Germaine Spencer from Baywest Wellness Hospital, Christopher Tufton and Samuel Afonso Diaz, country manager, Hospiten at the signing ceremony at the Western Regional Health Authority’s office in Freeport, Montego Bay, St James.

WESTERN BUREAU:

The longstanding issue of backlogged elective surgeries in western Jamaica is likely to be eased following an agreement between Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) and four private medical facilities.

The arrangement will allow Hospiten, GWest, Baywest Medical, and Montego Bay Hospital to take on upwards of 1,000 delayed surgeries over the next few months until the end of this year. This will take some pressure off Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH), which is western Jamaica’s only Type A hospital.

Some of the elective surgeries, which include 220 hernia, 250 prostate cancer, and 120 hysterectomy procedures, were pending from March 2020 due to the increased number of COVID-19 cases that took priority during the height of the global pandemic.

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, who was on hand to witness last Friday’s signing ceremony, said that some $70 million will be spent to facilitate the arrangement between the WRHA and the private hospitals until the end of this year.

“We are talking about a $1.3-billion programme that will hopefully see a few thousand surgeries being done over this period,” said Tufton.

“We are going to monitor it and see how it works, and we have negotiated some prices, and I am told this procedure will cost about $70 million between now and the end of the year. Based on the market rates, there should be a saving of $40 million or so based on the negotiation,” he added.

Across Jamaica, there are over 6,000 surgeries which have been delayed at public hospitals, with approximately 2,000 of those relating to hernias. In May this year, it was estimated that 1,000 operations would have to be conducted over a 10-month period from that time to clear the backlog of elective surgeries.

At the signing ceremony, CRH’s chief executive officer, Charmaine Williams-Beckford. thanked Tufton and the private partners.

“Our patients, our clients, have waited long, and we are very thankful that you have answered the call and that through the Ministry of Health, you allocated funds for this venture. For our private-public partners, we are very thankful that you have joined us and partnered with us to be able to serve our patients,” Williams-Beckford said.