THE COMMITTEE for the Upliftment of the Mentally Ill (CUMI) in collaboration with the National Health Fund (NHF) has announced plans to purchase a psychiatric emergency response unit for use by the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in St James. The bus, which will be converted into a semi-ambulance, is valued at J$3.5 million.

Funds for the vehicle were sourced by the CUMI Come Run planning committee and the NHF. The unit will be assigned to the hospital's psychiatric department, serving mentally ill patients within the county of Cornwall.

"The mental-health service is suffering, as there is no ambulance to take the mental-health officers to deliver services where needed. In the case of patients, they have to do without or make their own arrangements in emergencies," lamented nurse Joy Crooks, nurse administrator, CUMI, while speaking of the importance of this intervention.

With all five parishes in the county currently without a vehicle, the bus will serve St James, Hanover, Westmoreland, Trelawny and St Elizabeth. This situation has existed for the last two years. story here