HEALTH Minister Dr Christopher Tufton announced $3.5-billion upgrade for public health care facilities in JAMAICA

BY KIMBERLEY HIBBERT Observer staff reporter hibbertk@jamaicaobserver.com  Thursday, May 04, 2017

HEALTH Minister Dr Christopher Tufton yesterday announced Government's plans for a major overhaul of the country's health care infrastructure over a two-year period, which he said will result in a huge capital expenditure.

HEALTH Minister Dr Christopher Tufton

Dr Tufton, who was addressing Parliament in his sectoral debate presentation, said the work, which will include repairing, replacing and upgrading a number of critical infrastructure across the country, will come at a cost of $3,5 billion, to be funded primarily from the reserves of the National Health Fund (NHF). However, he said it will not affect the viability of the fund.

"This will not be at the expense of the viability of the NHF. Frankly, it is in keeping with the mandate of the fund. Currently, the NHF had $10 billion dollars in reserves. We commissioned a KPMG study to determine that entity's viability, based on future expenditures and projected revenue streams," Dr Tufton said. "Following that study we can conclude that with a withdrawal of up to $3.5 billion, that entity would be able to meet its obligation for up to 10 years, all other things being equal." more