Co-owner of Omega Medical Hospital Dr Dale Foster (centre) talks with (from left) his partner and co-owner Dr Sonja King Foster; Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton; Tourism Enhancement Fund Executive Director Dr Carey Wallace; and councillor for the Sheffield Division Garfield James.
NEGRIL, Westmoreland– As the country’s health sector continues to face lifestyle-related illness impacting a big random sample of the population, the Ministry of Health and Wellness is to introduce a program that is concentrated on screening. The goal is to supply an opportunity for Jamaicans to understand their health status so they can pursue early intervention.
Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, who indicated the value of public-private collaborations, stated he will be introducing the program throughout his sectoral dispute on May 3.
“We are going to be partnering both with the economic sector [and] civil society in attempting to get Jamaicans to understand what their health status is, since that is the beginning point of changing in order to handle. Do not wait up until you drop with a stroke to understand that your cholesterol level runs out whack,” specified Dr Tufton who did not provide information on how the program will work.
Dr Tufton, who was resolving the main launch of Negril’s very first multimillion-dollar personal healthcare facility– Omega Medical Hospital– on Friday in Negril, argued that personal organizations such as Omega and Hospiten in St James are invited to be a part of the program.
“Because if we have actually really discovered the lessons from COVID, we truly [should] purchase into producing a gentler society where we certainly become our bro’s keeper, acknowledging that on our own we are susceptible. Which suggests as public sector we are susceptible, and as economic sector … we are still going to be susceptible– which collaboration should occur,” mentioned Dr Tufton.
The nation presently has a population of 2.8 million and the general public health sector– both main (medical facilities) and secondary (health centres or centers)– sees around 3 million clients each year, and as such the minister is motivating the economic sector to take a few of the load. He stated this would decrease the waiting time and obstacles confronted with minimal resources.
“For that factor, I invite every chance to have collaborations in supplying healthcare,” he stated.
The Omega Medical Hospital, which had a soft opening on January 20, opened its doors to the general public on December 1 in 2015. It was developed by Jamaican-born medical physician Dale Foster, who has actually been serving the Negril neighborhood for the previous 25 years, and his Barbadian partner Sonja King Foster, who is likewise a physician.
The 14-bed center, which is geared up with a modern operating theatre, radiology department, X-ray department, lab and a drug store, will be offering main- to tertiary-level health-care services to neighborhoods around Negril.
