A Church Auditorium Became a Hospital Wing: The Adventists Have Housed Cornwall Regional’s Services Since 2017

• Health Minister Christopher Tufton praised the Seventh-day Adventist Church for its support
• The West Jamaica Conference’s auditorium in Mount Salem houses services moved out of Cornwall Regional Hospital
• Laboratory, antenatal, physiotherapy and other services serve hundreds of patients a day there
• The church says the arrangement has limited its own skills-training programme

When mould and air-quality problems forced major renovation work at Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in Montego Bay, some of its services needed a new home. Since 2017 part of that home has been a church. The Jamaica Observer reported that Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton publicly thanked the Seventh-day Adventist Church for housing services moved out of the Type A hospital.

The main auditorium at the West Jamaica Conference Centre in Mount Salem holds several clinical departments. They include laboratory services, the antenatal clinic, physiotherapy and other treatment stations, which serve hundreds of patients every day. Renovation work at the hospital had begun more than three years earlier.

Tufton said the government had expressed its thanks and had received a renewed commitment to keep working together. Pastor Glen Samuels, president of the West Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, confirmed the church’s support. He also raised a concern: the Western Regional Health Authority’s use of the building had, the Observer reported, “stifled the church’s ability in offering its skills training programme.” Tufton acknowledged that the two sides had discussed logistics and said he was satisfied with the continued commitment. Also named in the report were regional director Errol Green, senior medical officer Dr Derek Harvey and clinical coordinator Dr Delroy Fray. The minister also pointed to the hospital’s output, including more than 1.3 million laboratory tests a year.

The arrangement shows the value of large, well-built church property. When a public building failed, a denomination’s conference centre could take in a hospital’s departments almost at once. It also shows the cost. A building given over to the state for years is not available for the church’s own training, events or income. Churches that lend their property for public use should agree clear terms in writing, including duration, maintenance, utilities, insurance and handback condition, so that goodwill does not quietly become a long-term loss.

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