Select clinics to open until 10:00 p.m.
KINGSTON, Jamaica. Tuesday, June 10, 2025: Jamaicans across the island will have the opportunity to visit select health centres for care after the customary 4:00 p.m. closing time.
This comes as Minister of Health & Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, MP, who made his Sectoral Presentation to Parliament on Tuesday (June 10, 2025), announced the Extended Care Initiative that will feature health centres located near hospitals offering services to the public as late as 10:00 p.m., Mondays to Fridays.
“To address the overcrowding at Accident & Emergency (A&E) Departments, we will move to establish extended hours for selected health centres equipped to open for an extended four hours in the first instance; and have an established working protocol between that facility and the A&E Departments of selected hospitals where overcrowding is an issue,” noted Dr. Tufton.
Already, some 29 health centres across the island have been offering extended hours to the public up to 8:00 p.m. and some on weekends, but Dr. Tufton said that more is needed to support the changing health profile of the population.
“We will increase the number of health centres by 25% over the next two years even as we extend the opening hours to 10:00 p.m. across participating facilities. We will also explore extended hours for pharmacy services,” the Minister said.
“This will allow persons who work during the day to visit the clinics for routine check-ups, screening and monitoring of chronic illnesses while providing an alternative to persons visiting the Emergency Departments and in so doing help to further reduce wait times while improving patient satisfaction levels,” Dr. Tufton added.
The Ministry of Health & Wellness reported that in 2024, some 511,791 visits were made to hospital Accident and Emergency Departments, where approximately 30% of these cases could be seen at a health centre.
“Many Jamaicans still do not understand that A&Es do not operate on a first come, first served basis, so that those cases that are not urgent are likely to be told to wait for many hours before seeing a doctor, following an initial assessment. They would understandably become disgruntled. We have to work harder to fix this,” added Dr. Tufton.