Business View Caribbean October/November 2018

18 19 T he North-East Regional Health Authority (NERHA) was born out of the Nation- al Health Service Act in 1997 and the Government of Jamaica’s Health Reform Program which saw the decentralizing of health service delivery. Under decentralization, the man- agement of the delivery of health services shift- ed from central government and the Ministry of Health to four semi-autonomous bodies – the Regional Health Authorities (RHA). RHAs have re- sponsibility for the operation and management of health services within a defined geographic area. “This was done because the system had too many bottlenecks,” explains Fabia Lamm, Chief Executive Officer for NERHA. “Everything you have DECENTRALIZED HEALTHCARE North-East Regional HealthAuthority– AT A GLANCE NORTH-EAST REGIONAL HEALTH AUTHORITY WHAT: A regional health authority in Jamaica WHERE: Ocho Rios, Jamaica WEBSITE: www.nerha.gov.jm Jamaica NERHA’s Managers: Front Row (L-R) Dr. Patrick Wheatle, Regional Technical Director; Miss Fabia M. Lamm, Regional Director; Back Row (L-R) Mr. Sheldon Rose, Director of Operations and Maintenance; Mrs. Patrice Gavin-Byfield, Director of Management Information Systems; Mrs. Nyekah Adams, Director of Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations; Mr. Orville Tyrell, Director of Finance