Chinese medical ship docks in Port Royal

After serving almost 2,000 patients in Montego Bay, St James, the People's Republic of China's advanced navy hospital ship, the Silk Road Ark, docked at the Port Royal Cruise Pier in Kingston yesterday.

It will serve patients from the Corporate Area and surrounding communities over the next few days. Speaking after a tour of the vessel, Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton noted that the ship will facilitate outpatient care, diagnostic services, and elective surgeries.

"A number of procedures are already pre-planned, including surgeries, dental, medicals, both for patients but also for healthcare staff. So, three days here and then it moves on to Falmouth, where it will do the same thing," he detailed. He emphasised that Jamaica and China have had a long-standing beneficial cooperation in health.

"We have had a team coming here to do eye surgeries. We have had medical personnel going to China, participating in both clinical rotation, and training... Chinese personnel coming here... and of course the big one is the Western Child and Adolescent Hospital, which is a gift of the Chinese government. So, the relationship is strong," he outlined.

China's Ambassador to Jamaica, Jinfeng Wang, outlined that the Silk Road Ark has a maximum capacity of 300 beds and is staffed with approximately 100 medical professionals, including doctors, nurses and technicians. He noted that the ship was docked in Montego Bay for two and a half days, during which 1,970 patients were treated.

"They completed 277 surgeries for the local people," he disclosed.

The ship has dedicated departments for areas including gynaecology and obstetrics, orthopaedics, internal medicine, and paediatrics. Outpatient procedures completed aboard the vessel include hernia repair, cataract surgery and dental surgery.

During its stay in Port Royal, the medical team will complete outpatient procedures based on referrals from the regional health authority; it will also accept walk-in patients.