Relief in sight

KINGSTON Public Hospital (KPH) has pledged an urgent consultation with doctors at Black River Hospital (BRH) to determine Garfield Granston’s next steps to recovery, months after the 57-year-old was referred for specialist care and surgery following serious spinal injury. In a press release on Friday, KPH’s management said that it had seriously reviewed Granston’s medical history and acknowledged that his surgery was delayed after its C-arm machine, required to carry out the procedure, went out of service. Granston was referred to the Orthopaedics Outpatient Clinic at KPH in May 2026, after he had fallen from a tree and sustained fractures in two places along his spine. He was initially rushed to BRH, in St Elizabeth, where he was subsequently told that the hospital lacked the facilities to perform the procedure. In Friday’s press release KPH outlined that after clinical assessment and diagnostic imaging, an orthopaedic consultant recommended that Granston receive supportive care and secure the necessary spinal implants for possible surgery. The required medical equipment included 10 pedicle screws, 10 set screws, and two rods, at a total cost of $854,000. The release said that the spinal implants were not made readily available by Granston during follow-up visits, and after the payment was made, the hospital’s equipment became unavailable. While it did not clarify whether the C-arm machine is once more operational, KPH said it remains committed to delivering medical solutions for its patients and maintains that it would move to promptly execute referral and transfer procedures. “Urgent coordination between the orthopaedics teams at Black River Public Hospital and Kingston Public Hospital will be undertaken to review the patient’s current clinical condition and determine the appropriate next steps. Established referral and transfer procedures will be followed. “KPH remains committed to collaborating with public health facilities to support continuity of care, facilitate appropriate clinical decision-making, and promote positive patient outcomes while safeguarding patient confidentiality and dignity,” the hospital said. The update comes in response to a Jamaica Observer story on October 27 in which Elexso Smith disclosed her stepfather’s plight as he endured five months awaiting a surgery date from KPH. She explained that after receiving the nearly-million-dollar bill for surgical devices, her family sought assistance from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, which provided $554,000, while the family covered the remaining $300,000. Smith said she was shocked that her stepfather’s surgery was still delayed, even after payment was made. “Before we pay the money at KPH, and before we got help from the health ministry, the doctor was very harsh because he was arguing, saying that we have to pay the money before we can do surgery. When we get the receipt and gave it to the doctor he said: ‘One more problem. The machine broke down,’ ” Smith told the Observer on Tuesday this week. “Every time he is to go up there [KPH], they’re always putting him off; or if he’s sent up there, they send him back down [to BRH]. From the last time he went up there [KPH] on the 30th [of June] he has not been back there. And then when they [BRH] call up there they say he mustn’t come, or there is no bed space,” she claimed. She added that KPH did not state a clear timeline for Granston’s surgery, leaving him to endure severe discomfort while only receiving treatment for his pain at Black River Hospital where he was initially admitted. Smith, who acknowledged that her stepfather’s care regimen was no easy feat, had called on KPH to provide a clear timeline for the alleviation of his pain. “I just want to find out what’s really happening with this surgery situation. It’s been months and nothing. We’re not hearing nothing at all. So we just want KPH to state what their position is with this surgery as soon as possible,” Smith said on Tuesday.