JMDA backs intern protest over sewage leaks and unsafe hospital ward conditions

Leaders of the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association (JMDA) have thrown their weight behind medical interns who took industrial action over hazardous conditions inside a public hospital ward, even as officials review a revised internship framework due for Cabinet consideration.

Dr Renee Badroe, JMDA president, and second vice-president Dr Damian Harvey told CVM that raw sewage has leaked from patient bathrooms along corridors and into a doctors' room on the ward for many years. The problem sits within the clinical area itself, not in intern quarters outside the main hospital building. They warned that contaminated water and bacteria can be tracked to patients' beds, posing heightened risk to long-stay and elderly patients. Nurses have previously had to resuscitate a patient on the floor, they added, raising further infection concerns.

The sewage issue affects doctors, nurses, other medical staff, patients, and interns housed nearby, the association said. Interns told leaders they could not guarantee normal operations while conditions persisted. Following a meeting with the JMDA on Tuesday, Dr Badroe said she anticipated interns would return to duty the next morning.

Dr Badroe praised the interns for standing up on behalf of patients rather than for personal gain, noting many are due to complete training within months. She said the association would support them and called on the public to hold officials accountable.

On retention, Dr Harvey said keeping doctors in Jamaica depends on work conditions, pay, career progression, and available posts after the mandatory internship and senior house officer periods. He recalled that some doctors were left unemployed after the COVID period, triggering a JMDA response when posts were scarce.

Dr Badroe urged the ministers of health and finance to allocate adequate funding and policies to match intern intake with staffing needs. She cited the Ministry of Health's 2023 secondary care module, which states that just over 300 interns are required to fully staff the system, against a graduating class of about 88. She said deployed intern numbers had risen from about 136 to nearly 200, but systemic gaps remain.

Dr Harvey, when asked about worried patients, said patient care remains the health system's primary objective and that the JMDA will continue advocating for better delivery at public facilities.