Member of Parliament for St Thomas Eastern, Dr Michelle Charles, is calling on the health minister to consider developing the Princess Margaret Hospital for medical tourism and organ donation.

Charles, who made the request during her contribution to the State of the Constituency Debate 2023 on Tuesday, said the Princess Margaret Hospital sits on 28 acres of land. However, only five acres are occupied.

She noted that with the completion of the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project, the hospital will be one hour away from the Norman Manley International Airport, making it a prime destination for medical tourism.

“We have the best surgeons in the world. We have the best nurses in the world. And we can have the best hospital in the world, inviting medical tourism to our parish. With the amount of land that we have around Princess Margaret, we can have a medevac landing strip for anyone in the Caribbean to come so our surgeons can operate on them right there in St Thomas at the Princess Margaret Hospital,” argued the first-time MP.

She added that these changes would result in the hospital being upgraded from a Type C to a Type A hospital.

The health minister was also urged to consider launching an organ donation campaign and creating an organ donation wing at the hospital. She also reiterated calls for it become a requirement for citizens to state if they are an organ donor on their National Identification System (NIDS) card.

Charles said these improvements would not just benefit Jamaica, but also the Caribbean and the entire world.

“St Thomas Eastern is on the cutting edge, the land value has increased, and residents are flocking to our side of the island. Tourism is on its way. A brand new urban centre is being built. With all of this development, we must have a cutting-edge hospital and excellent health facilities,” Charles said.