Inside Chapelton Community Hospital: A look at the upgraded Clarendon facility and the healthcare services it provides

Jamaica Live News Desk– | Oct 4, 2026

CLARENDON, Jamaica — The Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA) has given the public an inside look at the Chapelton Community Hospital, highlighting the different areas of the facility, their functions and the range of healthcare services available to residents of Chapelton and surrounding communities.

The Clarendon-based hospital provides several essential services, including 24-hour emergency care, electrocardiograms (ECGs), asthma treatment, minor surgical procedures, laboratory services, pharmacy services, prenatal and postnatal care, family planning and nutritional support.

The hospital also features an upgraded minor operating theatre, expanded laboratory facilities, doctors’ consultation rooms, improved waiting areas and inpatient accommodation.

The latest look inside the facility comes several years after the completion of a major redevelopment programme that transformed the historic hospital, which was originally built in 1903.

The ageing facility had suffered significant deterioration over the years, including extensive termite damage to sections of the structure. Major rehabilitation and expansion works were therefore undertaken to modernise the hospital and improve the delivery of healthcare services to communities in northern Clarendon.

The redevelopment represented an investment of more than J$309 million and included the replacement of termite-damaged timber flooring, structural reinforcement, construction of a new roof, upgraded electrical and plumbing systems and the installation of medical gas and fire detection systems.

A new inpatient ward was also constructed, along with an ambulance bay, improved stretcher access, additional consultation rooms, a pharmacy and upgraded patient areas.

Construction on the major redevelopment began in 2019 following a groundbreaking ceremony in October 2018. Work was affected by delays associated with the COVID-19 pandemic before the project moved into its second phase.

The renovated and expanded Chapelton Community Hospital was officially reopened in December 2022 by Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton.

The project was supported through both public and private funding.

Jamaican-born businesswoman and philanthropist Beverly Nichols, through her US-based Push Start Foundation, contributed US$1 million towards the redevelopment. The Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund provided additional funding, while the National Health Fund (NHF) and the Ministry of Health and Wellness also supported the project.

The redevelopment was aimed at strengthening healthcare delivery in the area while allowing more residents to receive treatment closer to home instead of travelling to larger facilities such as May Pen Hospital.

More than a century after it first opened its doors, Chapelton Community Hospital continues to serve as an important healthcare facility for residents of Clarendon, with the SRHA’s latest presentation offering Jamaicans a closer look at the services now operating inside the transformed institution.

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