St James clergy condemn failures at Cornwall Regional Hospital and across public healthcare

WESTERN BUREAU — Reverend Glendon Powell, who chairs the St James Ministers Fraternal, has sharply criticised Jamaica’s public healthcare system, saying too many citizens are losing their lives because they cannot get timely medical care.

Powell singled out conditions at Cornwall Regional Hospital, citing extended waiting periods, too few doctors and nurses, packed wards, and ambulance services that fall short of what patients need.

Speaking at a press conference last Wednesday, he said clergy across St James are fielding growing complaints from residents unhappy with the standard of care in the public system.

"We hear the cries of the people every day. Many are suffering unnecessarily. People go to the hospital seeking relief and instead encounter greater pain, frustration and uncertainty," Powell said. He added that a close relative had recently endured a poor experience while seeking treatment.

"Today I would have been in mourning if I did not take a proactive action. I went to the hospital from 20 minutes to nine with my niece with a very critical situation, and when she went there it was not dealt with as an emergency," Powell said. "I stood there from 20 minutes to nine until 2:20 a.m. when I got up and went to the desk to talk to the lady about the matter. I said, ‘Tell me, when will I get through?’ She said, ‘Sir, not until about 6:00 a.m’.”

"I had to make an executive decision with her husband, to let us bring her home, let her get some rest, and get her on the plane the next morning," Powell continued. "By the time she reached Florida, seven doctors were around her. She went into the ICU (intensive care unit). Today, my niece is alive and well."

Powell also challenged the emergency transport capacity available in St James.

"There are only two ambulances I understand that are working in St James right now, and all the different places are calling the two ambulances, so when they tell you that ‘We will come soon’, it may be tomorrow morning," he said.

"We have a shortage of nurses, and we have shortage of doctors. We have doctors in our congregation, nurses in our congregation, we can't see them sometimes, sometimes all three days consecutively they are at work. How can people work with such a tired mind dealing with people, it is ridiculous," he added.

Immediate past chairman of the fraternal, Reverend Davwin Thomas, said clergy members acknowledge major spending on health but insist deep problems persist.

"We recognise the efforts which are being put into the healthcare system. For example, the National Health Fund (NHF), and many poor Jamaicans, and even middle-class ones have benefited from the NHF. Coupled with that, I think there is a high level of competency with our doctors and nurses. We recognise the tremendous efforts which are being put in to make Cornwall Regional Hospital a place that we all can be proud of."

Thomas said protracted delays still inflict hardship on patients.

"A hospital is a place where we go to relieve our suffering. It's very hard to go there and to encounter greater suffering," he said. "We see elderly people who have served this country for years, and they are sitting on chairs for three consecutive nights, and sometimes when they get weary, they just lay on the floor."

Thomas also questioned whether Jamaica’s free healthcare model can hold up financially, urging policymakers to weigh options such as small user fees or wider use of health insurance.

Secretary of the fraternity, Reverend Godfrey Francis, said denominational and faith-based leaders are repeatedly approached with accounts of hardship from people trying to access care.

"We get these cries every day as ministers. We face it every day. Every day, people are crying, and we see the suffering, and we hear it. We are saying people must not be able to say, 'I don't want to go to that place’," he said.