Jamaican Health Minister Thanks Adventist Church
April 16, 2017: Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, the Jamaican Health Minister has thanked the Adventist Church in Jamaica for its assistance with a major health care delivery challenge.
In March, noxious fumes coming from state-run Cornwall Regional Hospital’s central ventilating system forced the relocation of several outpatient services from the 400-bed facility to the denomination’s western region conference center.
“I will continue to say… how grateful we are to the Adventist Church for the use of the facility at such a critical time,” said Tufton in an April 15 story by the government-run Jamaica Information Service.
“Because of the proximity to the Cornwall Regional Hospital and because they didn’t hesitate to give us the green light to carry out the relocation of services, we were able to avert what would or could have been an otherwise sticky situation and for that the Government will be forever grateful.”
Eleven outpatient services were relocated to the Adventist conference center which is located near to Cornwall Regional Hospital in the St. James parish of north-western Jamaica.
Tufton’s words of appreciation came after media reports earlier this month that the Adventist Church was charging the government JMD 2 million (USD 15,665+) monthly for the privilege of using its facilities.
This figure was vigorously denied by both church leadership and Tufton.
However, Tufton promised that the Adventist Church would be compensated for the relocation arrangement which could last for months.
