Surgery in Jamaica
SPECIAL ARTICLE Surgery in Jamaica Peter Fletcher, FRCSEd; Archibald McDonald, DM(Surg), FRCSEd; Trevor McCartney, DM(Surg), FRCSEd; Reginald Carpenter, MA, MB BChir, FRCS amaica, at 4244 square miles (6830 km2) and with some 2.6 million inhabitants, is the larg- est and most populous country in the English-speaking Caribbean (Figure). The island is best known for its tourism industry, excellent rums, jerked pork, and, of course, reggae music. J HOSPITAL FACILITIES cated cardiothoracic and neurosurgery intensive care unit. Tertiary health care in Jamaica is pro- All the surgical specialties are repre- vided largely by the government. There are sented, and most surgical procedures are of- 23 government (public) hospitals and 10 fered. These include major bowel resec- private hospitals. Some of the public hos- tions, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, aortic pitals have small private wings attached. aneurysmectomy, radical cancer surgery, re- The government hospitals are clas- nal transplantation (mainly at the KPH sified as types A, B, C, and specialist. There now), joint replacement, liver resection, and are 3 type A hospitals: the University Hos- image-guided neurosurgery. It is the only pital of the West Indies (UHWI) and King- hospital in which open heart surgery is per- ston Public Hospital (KPH), located in formed and is 1 of 2 referral centers for neu- Kingston, and Cornwall Regional Hospi- rosurgery, the other being the KPH. tal, which is in Montego Bay. These are At the UHWI, there are some 4500 multidisciplinary hospitals that provide elective admissions each year to the vari- services for all medical specialties. They ous surgical specialties and 1100 trauma are fully supported by laboratory and ra- admissions.
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