Ministry of Health and Wellness breaks ground for constructionof Old Harbour Comprehensive Health Centre

KINGSTON, Jamaica: Residents of Old Harbour in St Catherine are set to benefit from

significantly improved and expanded healthcare services with the construction of a new

comprehensive health centre in the town. Ground was officially broken for this new

facility today by the Ministry of Health and Wellness, through the Health Systems

Strengthening Programme (HSSP).

The Old Harbour Comprehensive Health Centre, a 2000-square-metre state-of-the-art

facility that will serve approximately 10,000 people per month, will be located on East

Street in Old Harbour. This will replace the current Old Harbour Health Centre, a type 3

facility that serves over 17,000 residents annually but is hindered by space constraints.

The new comprehensive health centre will offer a wide range of primary healthcare

services, including specialist clinics, and critical services such as pharmacy, laboratory,

ECG, phlebotomy, X-ray, physiotherapy, and screenings for ophthalmology and

audiometry. In response to the growing demand for healthcare in the area, the new

centre will also house dedicated sections for dentistry, mental health, and maternal and

child health.

The centre is expected to significantly enhance the Old Harbour’s ability to manage

chronic illnesses and improve overall public health outcomes as the fastest growing

Town in the country. This will also enhance operations at the Spanish Town and May

Pen Hospitals, as residents can now access more non-emergency services closer to

home.

The new facility is being built at a cost of approximately JMD 930 million, which

includes the cost of construction, medical equipment, furniture, and an on-site

wastewater treatment plant. The health centre will also benefit from additional

investments under the HSSP, such as the implementation of the Electronic Health

Records (EHR) system and the Chronic Care Model (CCM), managed network

services, and staff trainings for seamless change management.

The construction, which is expected to be completed by early 2026, is expected to

provide employment for up to 200 persons, directly and indirectly, during the development phase, with an expanded team of medical and support staff once the facility becomes operational.

This project is part of the wider HSSP initiative, which was launched in 2018 with the

aim of strengthening Jamaica’s healthcare system in the prevention and care

management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The HSSP is supported by a US

$50 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), alongside an

additional US $87 million in funding from the Government of Jamaica and a US $10

million grant from the European Union (EU). This facility is primarily funded by the

European Union investment grant.

The Old Harbour Comprehensive Health Centre is one of 13 facilities in central

Jamaica benefiting from this programme, which is expected to transform the country's

health sector by 2029.