Take care of revamped A&E at CRH, MoBay mayor urges residents

Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon is urging the western city's residents, especially those who work at the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH), to treat the Type A hospital's redeveloped Accident and Emergency Department (A&E) with care and respect.

Addressing the department's official reopening today, Vernon noted that while the redevelopment project has been subjected to controversy since its closure in 2016, the end result has been worth the decade-long wait.

“This upgraded department demonstrates that the patience and investment required have delivered a result worthy of the effort. We are delivering an advanced clinical hub that elevates emergency healthcare for our residents who are supporting our vital economic and tourism sectors, and we do this while always recognising that a world-class destination is only as strong as the care and security it guarantees to the local citizens who call it home,” said Vernon.

“I issue a solemn charge to our administrative staff, frontline clinicians, and citizens, to protect this asset, to treat this facility with the civic respect and ownership it deserves. This milestone is a significant architectural achievement, but it is also a monument to what we can accomplish when we refuse to abandon our highest aspirations,” the mayor added.

The CRH underwent a shutdown that started in September 2016 with the A&E Department, attributed to noxious fumes affecting operations at the facility.

The hospital underwent a larger-scale shutdown a few months later, in February 2017, when the building's first three floors had to be evacuated due to noxious fumes.

Since then, the hospital has been undergoing restorative work, with multiple timelines for completion having passed over the past 10 years.

The A&E Department's restructured facilities include two operating theatres with contactless entry, dedicated rooms for ultrasound, CT scanning and ECG operations, and 10 observation beds for 24-hour observations.

- Christopher Thomas

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