Letter of the Day | From crisis to care at UHWI

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The findings presented by the Howard Mitchell-led review team to Parliament on January 13, on the operations of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), should be seen as a mirror of the painful daily experiences of ordinary Jamaicans who seek care at the institution and who often encounter a healthcare system burdened by outdated structures and inefficient processes.

My own experience accompanying my elderly mother to the UHWI painfully confirmed this reality.

Remembering the eight hours spent waiting in the emergency department before admission, I could not help but reflect on how disconnected management systems often seem from patients’ and families’ lived experiences. The presence of many professional, compassionate and dedicated nurses and doctors is a reminder of an institution pouring new wine into old wine skins of management structure.

This is why the Mitchell-led report is so important. Its recommendations on stronger board oversight, legislative reform, improved stakeholder accountability, better financial governance, and a strategic overhaul of the hospital’s management structure, if properly implemented, can lay the foundation for truly patient-centred institutions.

Strong governance and clearer board oversight can create systems of accountability in which patient care, efficiency, and transparency become priorities rather than afterthoughts. Legislative reform can clarify roles, reduce bureaucratic confusion, and ensure that decisions are made more responsive to the realities faced by patients and healthcare workers alike.

Similarly, a strategic overhaul of management structures can improve interdepartmental communication, reduce waiting times, strengthen discharge and follow-up systems, and ensure better coordination of care. Improving financial governance is equally critical, as waste,

inefficiency, and poor accountability ultimately affect the quality of patient services, access to equipment, staffing levels, and the overall hospital experience.

The Government should consider assigning the Howard Mitchell Committee new responsibilities and objectives similar to those of the Education Transformation Oversight Committee. Jamaica has already seen how sustained oversight, accountability, and long-term monitoring can support national transformation efforts. The UHWI is far too important a healthcare institution to fail. It should be a regional model of top-class patient care, the training of top-class medical personnel, and a world-class teaching hospital serving the wider Caribbean.

The true test of the Mitchell review will be whether ordinary patients experience meaningful change. Healthcare reform must move beyond reports and political discussion to restore dignity, efficiency, compassion, and trust to the care experience.

REV FR DONALD CHAMBERS

frdon63@hotmail.com