{"id":3185,"date":"2019-10-25T17:35:28","date_gmt":"2019-10-25T17:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/westernmirror.com\/?p=3185"},"modified":"2019-10-25T17:36:50","modified_gmt":"2019-10-25T17:36:50","slug":"imposing-ground-broken-for-new-childrens-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/?p=3185","title":{"rendered":"IMPOSING – Ground broken for new children\u2019s hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Government took a major step on Wednesday to establish the long awaited Western Children and Adolescents Hospital, when Prime Minister Andrew Holness led a number of officials in breaking ground on the premises of the Cornwall Regional Hospital to commence construction of the US$ 43 million 220-bed seven-floor state-of-the-art complex. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The facility, which is a gift from the Chinese Government,\nis slated to be completed in May 2021,and will also feature a 60-room\nresidential facility for health professionals from Western Jamaica.  Cont\u2019d on Page 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will offer specialist service to children up to 18 years.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funding for the project is being provided under an Economic\nand Technical Cooperation Agreement, which was signed on Thursday, October 18,\nat the offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In breaking ground under a tent (due to a heavy\ndownpour),Mr. Holness said the new facility is expected to bring about an\nimprovement in the quality of life of citizens,many of whom have been angered\nand frustrated by the level of service delivery now being offered at the\nCornwall Regional Hospital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are not running away from the problem; we are not hiding\nfrom the problem. People want to know they can express their frustration and\nanger \u2013 we are the custodians of the people\u2019s power and we must use it on the\npeople\u2019s behalf,\u201dhe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PORTIA\u2019S ROLE ACKNOWLEDGED<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister Holness gave credence to former Prime\nMinister, Portia Simpson Miller, who was a strident advocate for a children\u2019s\nhospital and during her tenure,took action to make it possible when she\ntravelled to China andforged an agreement with that government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe brought it a step closer when she visited China and\nplaced it on the agenda as a project of cooperation between the people of\nJamaica and the people of China, and the Government of China agreed, and that\nbrought the project one step closer to fruition. So, I want to acknowledge her\ngreat effort and input in reaching to this point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Christopher Tufton, Minister of Health and Wellness, in\nwelcoming the construction of the facility, acknowledged that it would be the\nfirst hospital to be built in the country in 20 years,and would serve more than\n500-thousand residents in the western parishes of St. James, Hanover,\nWestmoreland and Trelawny. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Western Children and Adolescents Hospital is a\nsignificant indication of the commitment of our honourable Prime Minister and\nthe administration to advance the improvement of public health infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tian Qi, Chinese Ambassador of the People\u2019s Republic of\nChina to Jamaica,said the construction of the new hospital was a testament of\nthe longstanding and significant relationship between China and Jamaica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the past 47 years, we have been working together as\ntrue friends and real partners, helping each other bilaterally and in\ninternational affairs,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ambassador Qi said he was happy as the facility would serve\nto greatly enhance the health care of Jamaican children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The seven-storey facility will also have an in-house\npharmacy, an emergency room, a dialysis room, and a food court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Government took a major step on Wednesday to establish the long awaited Western Children and Adolescents Hospital, when Prime Minister Andrew Holness led a number of officials in breaking ground on the premises of the Cornwall Regional Hospital to commence construction of the US$ 43 million 220-bed seven-floor state-of-the-art complex. The facility, which is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3185"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3190,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3185\/revisions\/3190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}