Prime Minister Holness Highlights Ongoing Investments to Position Jamaica as Centre of Excellence for Children and Adolescent Health in the Western Hemisphere
Prime Minister Dr. the Most Honourable Andrew Holness has outlined the Government’s ongoing investments in pediatric and adolescent healthcare, underscoring the Government’s deliberate national strategy to position Jamaica as a centre of excellence for children and adolescent health in the Western Hemisphere.
Speaking during the opening of the Parent Overnight Suite at the Bustamante Hospital for Children on January 30, 2026, the Prime Minister highlighted the institution’s central role in Jamaica’s health system and its wider regional importance. He noted that the hospital is the only specialist pediatric hospital in the English-speaking Caribbean, providing care to children from birth to age 12 across a wide range of services, including cardiology, neurology, nephrology, oncology, surgery, and intensive care.
Dr. Holness also pointed to the hospital’s capacity, including 279 beds, ICU and Cardiac ICU services, and an Accident and Emergency Department that treats approximately 70,000 patients annually, describing the facility as a national cornerstone for pediatric care.
The Prime Minister explained that Jamaica’s pediatric health ecosystem will be strengthened with the future completion of the Western Child and Adolescent Hospital, which will be delivered as a modern, state-of-the-art facility to expand access to specialized services for children and adolescents, particularly in western Jamaica.
“Jamaica is becoming a centre of excellence in health for children and adolescents,” the Prime Minister said, adding that “that’s an entire industry and an entire economy that can be created around that.”
Dr. Holness emphasized that these investments extend beyond physical infrastructure, forming part of a broader national approach to building specialized healthcare capacity while creating opportunities linked to medical services, training, and regional care delivery.
He also underscored the importance of family-centred care, noting that parents play a critical role in recovery outcomes.
“Parents are not visitors in a child’s recovery; they are partners in it,” he said, explaining that the newly opened Parent Overnight Suite was designed to allow families to remain close to their hospitalized children in a dignified and supportive environment.
Prime Minister Holness reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to sustaining these investments as Jamaica continues to expand healthcare facilities and supporting systems, positioning the country to improve outcomes for Jamaican children while serving families from across the Caribbean.