Mark Beckford, Gleaner Writer

Prime Minister Bruce Golding has revealed that the Government has identified a facility which will specialise in eye care for Jamaicans, but declined to divulge its location.

Speaking at the Medical Association of Jamaica's annual awards banquet at The Jamaica Pegasus on Saturday, Golding said that the centre had arisen out of the recent visit to Cuba, where discussions pointed to moving the Cuba eye-care programme to Jamaica.

"When I was in Cuba recently, we had discussions with the Cuban authorities and we both agreed that rather than sending these patients to Cuba, it would be better if we were able to establish a facility in Jamaica," he said.

These discussions also involved the possibility of other patients from the region coming to the facility, which would be staffed and equipped by the Cubans.

Brand-new facility

"We have identified a facility. It's a brand-new facility that is being built by private interests and it was intended to be a hospital. Minister Spencer has taken a team, he has looked on it, we got an opinion from Dr [Kenneth] Baugh and we are pursuing that."

In fact, Baugh, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, departed the island Sunday for Cuba to hold follow-up discussions with high-ranking Cuban officials on a number of issues.

Golding said that this move was a part of his Government's policy on the construction of specialist hospitals with concentrated skills and their development as centres of excellence.

He said that the purchase of St Joseph's Hospital was a signal of the administration's intention in that regard.

Golding also told the gathering that he had received a report on the review of the Regional Health Authority in Jamaica and will be reviewing it in the coming weeks.

"That is being reviewed and hopefully arriving out of that, some important decisions will be made that will impact on the type of service which we deliver," he said.

mark.beckford@gleanerjm.com