WESTERN BUREAU:

Services at the Type 5 health centre in downtown Montego Bay, St James, will be significantly affected in the next three to four months as activities at the facility will be scaled down to facilitate upgrading work at a cost of $6 million.

"To facilitate the relocation of some departments and the commencement of construction, the centre will be closed to the public from midday Thursday, May 21 to Monday, May 25," said Western Regional Health Authority spokesman, Clinton Pickering.

"When it reopens on Tuesday, May 26, some services currently provided will be relocated temporarily to other health centres."

According to Pickering, during the period of construction, only scheduled appointments - such as medical cases, maternal child health, antenatal clinic and HIV/STI - will be provided at the facility.

"All other services, including rape, assault and child guidance cases, will be deferred to the Catherine Hall Health Centre," continued Pickering. "Dental services will be available at both the Cornwall Regional Hospital and the Catherine Hall Health Centre."

In putting the changes that will take place during the upgrading work into context, Valencia Maponya, parish manager for the St James Public Health Services, explained that the temporary measures being put in effect are geared towards ensuring that stakeholders, including clients and staff, are not totally dislocated.

"We are aware that some of our clients will be inconvenienced but we are appealing to everyone to understand that this dislocation is temporary. When the construction is completed, we will be able to offer a much-improved level of service in more comfortable facilities," said Maponya.

During the construction period, the main entrance clinic located on Creek Street will be closed off to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Persons wishing to access the facility will have to do so from the entrance along Church Street.