- Final phase of rehabilitation on track
KINGSTON, Jamaica. Thursday, April 24, 2025: The Cornwall Regional Hospital has realised its first milestone, with the reopening and upgrading of the facility’s Administrative Block.
The hospital has been undergoing rehabilitative and redevelopment works, following the discovery of extensive air quality issues and dereliction dating back to 2009.
The administrative services were subsequently relocated, as the process for the facility’s restoration began. The extensive repairs and overhaul of the hospital will total some $23.5 billion, including the relocation of services and the restoration of the main building, set for completion in the first quarter of 2026.
Addressing the official opening ceremony on Thursday (April 24) for the reopening of the block, Health and Wellness Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, MP stressed the importance of taking “the correct path to seeing to development and transformation in our health system, one careful decision at a time”.
The approach, he maintains, is yielding immense fruit.
“We have taken the necessary time, allocated the required financial resources and engaged the appropriate expertise to comprehensively and sustainably address the rehabilitation of one of the country’s main hospitals,” the Minister said.
“The rehabilitation of CRH has been a long journey, peppered by setbacks and uncertainties, but we have persisted and are on the final stretch,” he continued.
“Our investment to date has been in project 1 – the relocation of the services, approximately $1.8 billion; and in project 2 – the main building rehabilitation, $3.9 billion,” Minister Tufton added.
Staff members with responsibility for accounting, procurement, office management, and general administrative services will now benefit from improved ventilation and lighting systems; upgraded technology infrastructure to support efficient operations; enhanced accessibility features; as well as modernised office spaces to promote productivity and rejuvenation.
Uninterrupted Service
While the rehabilitative works ensue, the hospital has continued to serve western Jamaica through outstations and the support of health facilities in the region, with the more than $1.8 billion expended to provide uninterrupted life-saving services.
Additional structures were erected to provide for accident and emergency services, radiotherapy, lab services, and support services for the facility, while nursing and doctor accommodations were converted to wards and operating theatres.
Several departments and services of the rehabilitated facility will see a phased reopening over the next year. The facility will also have a new Maternity Suite, Intensive Care Unit, Accident and Emergency Department, Nursery and Operating Theatres. It will be outfitted with new technology and infection, prevention control finishes.