Campus housing CRH to be renamed in honour of Dr Herbert Eldermire – Holness

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has announced plans to rename the Cornwall Regional Hospital campus in honour of Dr Herbert Eldemire, the man credited with initiating the development of the Montego Bay healthcare institution more than six decades ago.

Speaking at Friday's official reopening of the hospital's Accident and Emergency Department, Holness said the Government was proposing to rename the wider complex the Dr Herbert Eldemire Health Services Campus.

He recalled that an earlier resolution seeking to honour Eldemire had failed to secure approval at the municipal level.

“We recall that there were some challenges with that, and that was not approved at the time, but I believe that better minds would have prevailed now, seeing where we are,” Holness said.

The prime minister traced the hospital's origins to 1961, when Eldemire acquired the property for its development.

The facility subsequently opened in May 1974, reportedly costing approximately US$12 million to construct and another US$5 million to equip, with assistance from the Canadian Government.

Holness said the hospital's history and Eldemire's contribution deserved formal recognition.

The proposed naming would encompass a campus that also houses the developing Western Child and Adolescent Hospital, which is to be named in honour of former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller.

He credited Simpson Miller's role in negotiations with the Chinese Government that helped secure support for the children's hospital.

Turning to the hospital's prolonged rehabilitation, Holness acknowledged that inadequate maintenance over several decades had contributed to its deterioration.

“We did not spend enough to ensure that this 50-year-old institution could continue to function and deliver the services without interruption,” he said.

He noted that the Government committed $23.5 billion in 2017 to address the hospital's ageing infrastructure.

Holness also disclosed that he had summoned Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton on several occasions for discussions about the pace of rehabilitation and concerns surrounding costs.

“We did have that heart-to-heart and difficult conversation, particularly on questions about overruns and cost,” he said.

The prime minister stressed that Cabinet ministers were expected to deliver results and remain accountable to the public.

“Our Cabinet is about performance,” he declared.

Friday's reopening marks another phase in the hospital's rehabilitation, although Holness emphasised that work on the wider institution was not yet complete.

“Today we are opening an important part of the hospital, not the entirety of the hospital,” he said.

Janet.Silvera@gleanerjm.com

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