Keisha Hill, Gleaner Writer

Michael Lee Chin, chairman of the National Commercial Bank and AIC Fund Management, poses with nursing students of the Northern Caribbean University, following a press conference yesterday to announce his donation of $155 million to NCU to build a nursing school in Mandeville, Manchester. - Photo by Keisha Hill

Jamaica's ailing nursing sector is set to receive a significant boost from a $155 million investment at the Northern Caribbean University (NCU) in Mandeville, Manchester.

Michael Lee Chin, chairman of AIC Fund Management and the National Commercial Bank, yesterday unveiled plans to build a state-of-the-art nursing school on the NCU campus. Mr. Lee Chin made the disclosure at a press conference, at the NCU's Gymnatorium. The nursing school will be named 'The Hyacinth Chen School of Nursing' in honour of his mother.

It will be situated on a 21,000 sq ft property, just across the road from the main campus. Construction of the school is expected to begin within the next three months and projected completion will take about 15 months.

Ease nursing shortage

Construction cost is estimated at $90 million with equipment set to cost $65 million. The school will have a capacity for 800 nursing students and it is projected that in the next two years, will graduate at least 250 nurses. This is expected to significantly ease the nursing shortage in Jamaica.

"It is my humble opportunity to participate and make this country take its rightful place in the global society," Mr. Lee Chin said yesterday. He noted that Mandeville was the perfect site for a university town.

Said he: "Mandeville is a peaceful town, and families from North America will feel comfortable leaving their children here."

Mr. Lee Chin added that eventually bauxite, which is the mainstay of the community will run out, and there needs to be the establishment of other frameworks to ensure the economic viability of the town.

"NCU started the economic growth and foundation 87 years ago when it was founded, and it is only opportune that we continue in the steps that were made by its founder," he added.

Patriotism

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who was also in attendance, added similar sentiments. She saluted the administrators of NCU and AIC for their great faith in Jamaica and the Jamaican people. "Both NCU and AIC have exhibited the true spirit of patriotism and have demonstrated this by giving back to the land they love." She added that this investment will improve health care and health-care facilities in Jamaica and the world.

At the NCU's annual graduation ceremony in August, the department of nursing created history when it graduated the largest number of nursing students in the institution's history. This year, 93 nurses were among the 1,028 graduates. Last year, the department graduated 44 students and in 2004, 43 nurses graduated from the institution.

The nursing school at NCU was established 40 years ago and was the first tertiary institution in the Caribbean to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing. Jamaican nurses are world renowned and nursing is a practical course that is in high demand both locally and internationally. However in recent times the sector has been faced with significant difficulties.

There are currently 2,000 nurses employed in the public health sector and the system will only begin to cope when the number reaches 4,000-5,000. Just recently it was noted that the Bustamante Hospital for Children in St. Andrew was experiencing a severe shortage of nurses, with one registered nurse to 30 or 40 patients.