North-East Regional Health Authority – Jamaica

NORTH-EAST REGIONAL HEALTH AUTHORITY DENTAL EQUIPMENT AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES www.dmsltdjm.com (876) 630-1087 15 Norwood Ave., Kingston 5, Jamaica W I DMS provides high quality products for dental and medical professionals. We represent some of the world’s leading brands and our ever-increasing prod- uct range is regularly reviewed to ensure that we can meet the changing needs of our customers. We understand the need for quality products and service to meet the ever growing needs of medical and dental professionals, practicing in private and institutions. INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE TRAINING l REPAIRS “I joined the region in 2014,” she con- tinues, “and since I started, we have built four new health centers to give increased service delivery and provide better ameni- ties, not only for the patients, but also for the staff. Another three are in the pipeline. We have also made strides in improving the infrastructure in many of the other facilities. A lot of our hospitals and health centers have been built many, many years ago. I say to people our most recent hos- pital was built in the 1950s and so there are many infrastructural challenges that must be addressed as we strive to keep abreast in maintaining best practices and standards.” Hospitals in Jamaica are classified as being one of three types, A, B, and C. Type A will offer all of the services necessary across the whole gamut of health care, while type B typically has fewer beds and fewer departments, and type C is smaller still and typically has less than 100 beds. The regional hospital managed by NEHRA is currently type B and is limited to obstet- rics, gynecology, surgery, medicine, accident and emergency, orthopedics, psychiatry and pediatrics. There is some cardiology as well. Patients who require more services have to travel to one of two main facilities on the Island in either Kingston or Mon- tego Bay. “So we are attempting to upgrade the St. Ann’s Hospital to type A,” Lamm states. “As a type A facility, it will now have increased diagnostic equipment, for example, moving from X-rays to MRI and CAT scans.We are looking at higher level lab services being offered and we are also looking at adding additional services. There will be renal services for patients who require dialysis, dermatology, an enhanced cardiology department, and, also, some aspects of cancer treatment. So, I would say that is a big thing that is on the books now- to get St. Ann’s Bay to a specialist hospital, a type A, which will also see increased bed capacity. They now have 300 beds and we are hoping with that improvement it will be increased by at least 100 more beds. It will mean making the necessary provisions for more patients and more staff as well.” Healthcare in Jamaica is totally free for the patients. The budgetary allocations, howev- er, are controlled by the Ministries of Health and Finance. That means that a big part of the responsibility of NERHA lies in negotiating for funds. It is one of the smallest regions in terms of geography and population, and so often sees the smallest allocations. The needs, however, are still large as we basically carry out the same services as the other three regional health au- thorities. “Over the years, we have been able to offset this by developing some specific partnerships,” Lamm says. “So we partner with foundations, ANNOTTO BAY HOSPITAL