The European Union-funded Programme for the Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality (PROMAC), implemented by the Ministry of Health and Wellness in line with a Jamaica-EU agreement has equipped four hospitals with the resources and skills needed to care for the sickest and most vulnerable pregnant women and new-borns from across the country.
On June 24,the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr the Hon. Christopher Tufton along with Ambassador Malgorzata Wasilewska officially opened the second such facility under the programme - a maternal high-dependency unit (HDU) as well as a refurbished space for neonatal care at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH).
Senior Medical Officer at VJH, Dr Garth McDonald said "the new six- bed maternal HDU, an operating theatre and isolation suite will increase the hospital's capacity to care for critically ill patients who are usually transferred from other hospitals across the island to VJH. In addition, he noted that the expansion of the neonatal facilities to accommodate 4 high dependency beds, creation of isolation suites that facilitate the ventilation of up to 16 premature babies who need respiratory support at one time - as well as the refurbishment of space for a 24-bed general nursery facility, will result in even more lives being saved.
