An Italian firm has begun refurbishing three hospitals in Jamaica as part of a long-term effort to improve the provision of medical services in that country through a broad reform of the health sector.
The firm, Rizanni de Eccher, is constructing new buildings to house hospital departments and improving existing support services and infrastructure, such as laboratories, sewage treatment, electrical power and roadways in Kingston Public Hospital, St. Ann's Bay Hospital and Mandeville Hospital.
Renovations of two other hospitals are also being carried out as part of the IDB-financed program, which includes the procurement of biomedical equipment and the training of 16 different categories of health personnel.
In recent years, the IDB's support for health care improvement in Jamaica has moved from financing physical works to developing management capacity, including the establishment of a Health Reform Unit within the Ministry of Health in 1995. Earlier this year, the Bank approved a loan to help finance a broad program of policy reforms to secure the considerable health gains the country has made over the past quarter century.
A major aim of the reform program is to develop a national health insurance plan to achieve a more equitable and sustainable health financing system. The reform will also include decentralization of the provision of health services in which four regional authorities will be responsible for administering public hospitals and health centers.
The new program will also strengthen the ability of the Ministry of Health to set policy, carry out regulatory functions and improve human resource management.