Prime Minister Holness Officially Opens Parent Overnight Suite at Bustamante Hospital for Children
Prime Minister Dr. the Most Honourable Andrew Holness officially opened the new Parent Overnight Suite at the Bustamante Hospital for Children, expanding family-centered care by providing modern accommodation for parents whose children require extended hospitalization.
In his address, the Prime Minister underscored Bustamante’s role as the only specialist pediatric hospital in the English-speaking Caribbean, delivering services from general medicine to cardiology, neurology, nephrology, oncology, surgery, and intensive care.
He noted that the Accident and Emergency Department treats approximately 70,000 patients each year, describing the institution as “a national cornerstone, a lifeline for families in their most vulnerable moment.”
Importantly, Dr. Holness emphasized that parental presence is essential to recovery, stating:
“Parents are not visitors in a child’s recovery. They are partners in it.” He explained that “the previous overnight facility was limited, aging, and deteriorating, offering shelter but not sanctuary,” and it no longer met demand as the hospital expanded in scale and medical capability.
On the intended impact of the new suite, the Prime Minister said:
“When parents are rested, they are better able to care for their child. When parents are nearby, the child feels safer. And when families are supported, healing is accelerated.”
The new Parent Overnight Suite was developed through collaboration among the National Housing Trust, the National Health Fund, and the South East Regional Health Authority.
While welcoming completion of the facility, Dr. Holness acknowledged that delivery was significantly delayed due to contractor underperformance and terminations, redesign challenges, theft of materials, overlapping agency responsibilities, extended procurement timelines, and disruptions caused by Hurricanes Beryl and Melissa.
The Prime Minister emphasized that while institutional safeguards and accountability processes are essential to protecting the public interest, they must not become barriers to delivery, noting that systems must balance integrity with efficiency.
“A system that protects integrity but prevents delivery is not protection; it is paralysis,” he said.
Prime Minister Holness commended healthcare workers, civil servants, and partner agencies for completing the project despite multiple setbacks, noting that the Parent Overnight Suite “deepens the circle of care” by supporting not only young patients but also the families beside them.