Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) is a public general hospital in Kingston,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. It is the oldest

public hospital A public hospital, or government hospital, is a hospital which is government owned and is fully funded by the government and operates solely off the money that is collected from taxpayers to fund healthcare initiatives. In some countries, this typ ...

in Jamaica and is the main hospital in south eastern Jamaica. The hospital is operated by the South East Regional Health Authority on behalf of the Ministry of Health, Jamaica.

History

Kingston Public Hospital was first opened on 14 December 1776. However, the institution was officially ratified on 21 December, 1776, when the Jamaica Assembly passed an Act (17 Geo. III c. 26) establishing the hospital. The hospital was originally located at the intersection of East and North Streets in Kingston, where a small hospital designated for slaves was converted into a male hospital and an old slave compound was converted into a female ward. Initially, KPH only treated patients from Jamaica’s white population, while the black slave population were treated on sugar plantations in what was then referred to as "hot houses" until

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchis ...

in 1838, after which they began to be accepted by the hospital. Originally, KPH was designed as an

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

as well as a hospital, and later became a mental asylum. However, the asylum was relocated to

Rae Town Rae Town is a Kingston, Jamaica neighborhood by Kingston Harbor Kingston Harbour in Jamaica is the seventh-largest natural harbour in the world. It is an almost landlocked area of water approximately long by wide. Most of it is deep enough t ...

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

in 1850, where it eventually became the

Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States b ...

. In 1859, KPH began offering 24-hour service seven days per week. In 1936, the then Senior Medical Officer, Dr Arthur Westmorland, separated surgical from medical cases for the first time. Four new operating theatres were built in 1962, in addition to the two previously built in 1928. In 1963, the KPH paediatric ward was transferred to the premises of the former British Military Hospital to establish the

Bustamante Hospital for Children Jamaica Hospital for Children is a children's hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, located on Arthur Wint Drive in the Kingston 5 district of the city, near the national stadium Independence Park and the Bob Marley statue. It is the only children's h ...

. Since then, KPH has evolved into the largest multidisciplinary hospital in the Government Health Service as well as the largest trauma centre in the public hospital system.

Services

Kingston Public Hospital is a 475-bed hospital located on North Street in Kingston. It is the largest hospital of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean. The institution offers a variety of services including: diagnostic imaging; laboratory services; physiotherapy; physical rehabilitative services; dietary services; radiotherapy; general surgery; ear nose and throat surgery; ophthalmology; anaesthesia; intensive care pain management; gastroenterology; haematology; dialysis; endocrinology; rheumatology; psychiatry; and cardiology. The hospital also has an internal care medicine department with many subspecialties. The facility’s accident and emergency unit sees 200 to 300 persons per day, treating up to 90,000 patients annually, while its out-patient unit handles approximately 2000 cases daily. Additionally, the hospital performs approximately 90,000 surgical procedures annually. The services offered by the hospital include: * Accident & Emergency (A&E) *

Anaesthesia Anesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prevention of pain), paralysis (muscle relaxation), am ...

and

intensive care Intensive care medicine, also called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes pro ...

Dermatology Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medical ...

Dietary In nutrition, diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. The word diet often implies the use of specific intake of nutrition for health or weight-management reasons (with the two often being related). Although humans are o ...

* Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) *

Endocrinology Endocrinology (from '' endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental event ...

Gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- “belly”, -énteron “intestine”, and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract ...

* General Medicine *

General Surgery General surgery is a surgical specialty that focuses on alimentary canal and abdominal contents including the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, appendix and bile ducts, and often the thyroid ...

Haematology Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the produc ...

Infectious Disease An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

Intensive Care Unit 220px, Intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensiv ...

Medical laboratory A medical laboratory or clinical laboratory is a laboratory where tests are conducted out on clinical specimens to obtain information about the health of a patient to aid in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. Clinical Medical labor ...

Nephrology Nephrology (from Greek'' nephros'' "kidney", combined with the suffix ''-logy'', "the study of") is a specialty of adult internal medicine and pediatric medicine that concerns the study of the kidneys, specifically normal kidney function (ren ...

Neurology Neurology (from el, wikt:νεῦρον, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine), medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of co ...

Neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

* Obstetrics & Gynaecology (O&G) *

Oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

Ophthalmology Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

Orthopaedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

Outpatient Clinics A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

Pediatric Surgery Pediatric surgery is a subspecialty of surgery involving the surgery of fetuses, infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. History Pediatric surgery arose in the middle of the 1879 century as the surgical care of birth defects required ...

Pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...

Pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

Physiotherapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

* Plastic and Re-Constructive Service *

Psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psych ...

Radiology Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiat ...

Radiotherapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radia ...

Renal Dialysis Kidney dialysis (from Greek , , 'dissolution'; from , , 'through', and , , 'loosening or splitting') is the process of removing excess water, solutes, and toxins from the blood in people whose kidneys can no longer perform these functions natura ...

Rheumatology Rheumatology (Greek ''ῥεῦμα'', ''rheûma'', flowing current) is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatolog ...

Urology Urology (from Greek οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and '' -logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary-tract system and the reproductive org ...

Notable people

* Rosita Butterfield, Turks and Caicos politician and midwife * Mavis Gilmour, Jamaican medical practitioner and politician * Syringa Marshall-Burnett, Jamaican nurse, educator and politician *

Gwendolyn Spencer Gwendolyn Spencer, OD (26 October 1916 – 20 August 2015) was a nurse and midwife, who co-founded the Jamaican Midwives' Association. An advocate for professionalism, she was instrumental in developing training programs for midwives and establ ...

, Jamaican nurse and midwife *

Sekhar Tam Tam Sekhar Tam Tam was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II at an investiture ceremony held at Buckingham Palace on 6 December 2006. The award was given for Tam Tam's contribution to health and public se ...

, Indian medical doctor

References

{{Hospitals in Jamaica Buildings and structures in Kingston, Jamaica Hospitals in Jamaica