Councillor presses for Bellevue expansion and stronger mental-health crisis response

Concerns over crowding at Bellevue Hospital in East Kingston are intensifying, with Councillor Jesse James Clark warning that Jamaica’s main psychiatric facility has reached capacity and requires urgent expansion and more funding to keep pace with demand.

Clark said the mental health unit at the Windward Road Health Centre likewise needs larger premises, additional money, more vehicles, and more trained staff who can work in the field during the day. He argued for a mobile response unit that can operate alongside the centre’s regular daytime workforce.

He also called for longer and wider training for police officers so that members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force are better prepared to manage mental health emergencies. According to Clark, response teams often do not step in until a person becomes violent, and he wants extensive training extended to all officers, not only some of them.

Clark said there appears to be a rise in people facing mental health difficulties across the municipality, set against what he described as ongoing shortages of resources. He pointed to people rummaging through garbage bins and scattering refuse in the road, and to individuals who take up residence in public spaces.

He cited a long-running case on Cleveland Avenue involving a person with mental illness who has settled there for years, saying it has been hard to get a team to attend when called.

Timely mental health assessments are needed, especially for those most at risk, Clark said. Leaving people with mental health conditions in exposed settings can bring them into conflict with the police and leave them vulnerable to others who might harm them. He wants existing services delivered more efficiently.