THE UNIVERSITY Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) has hired 18 more Cuban nurses to fill a shortage of nursing staff.
A release from the UHWI said the Cubans have already been assigned to areas of critical need at the hospital, but must undergo a three-month orientation to familiarise themselves with the way Jamaicans operate before joining the other 60 Cubans present on the wards.
Their presence here resulted from an agreement with Cuba's Ministry of Health to place nurses in Jamaican hospitals and to exempt them from having work permits although they must register with the Nursing Council of Jamaica.
The nurses have been hired on two year contracts and will receive the same salaries as their Jamaican counterparts as well as under the same terms and conditions of service.
The arrival of the nurses coincided with the re-opening of Ward 4, which deals with patients suffering from diabetes and kidney disorders. The Ward had been closed since 1988 mainly because of a shortage of nurses and had since been refurbished.
Previously, patients had to wait in the general wards for assessment. The re-opening of the ward followed the re-opening of the hospital's refurbished pharmacy last month.
