Cuban specialist nurses set to return to Jamaican public health posts under new contracts

Patients still waiting on surgeries and rescheduled appointments since Jamaica's Cuban healthcare programme ended in March may face shorter delays as specialist nurses prepare to return under a new government arrangement.

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton told reporters on Tuesday that Cuban healthcare professionals who reapplied could resume or be reassigned to posts they previously held across the public system. Up to 50 nurses have applied to re-enter under direct contracts with the Government, adding to the 42 who remained after the programme's March closure and bringing the total closer to 100.

"We have always said that this is not a goodbye. It's a new arrangement that we're putting on the table. And the response so far has been good," Tufton said.

He described the move as part of a broader effort to strengthen the health sector through multinational staffing. Some nurses have already arrived, and under the new arrangement they will be paid directly by the Jamaican Government. Tufton noted the Cuban eye care programme had been among the system's most valued initiatives, and he expects returning staff to be deployed quickly given their track record.

"But they'll be deployed quickly because we know their efforts and their value. Some may go back to where they were. Others may be reassigned. All are specialists," he said, adding that while some eye care personnel stayed and the programme continues in part, many left and he hopes some returnees will rejoin that service.

The prospect offers relief to patients such as 87-year-old Lurline Grant of St Catherine, who has sought cataract surgery at St Joseph's Hospital in the Corporate Area since 2024. She said each visit brought new tests and promises of a callback, until news broke on a Friday that the Cuban team had returned home.

"And each time I come they send me somewhere to do some test. I went to the Heart Foundation. I did some test. I bring back the result and they told me they would call me. And I came the Wednesday. They told me they would call me. Only to find out that the Friday I was listening news and they all went back to Cuba. So now the eye is getting worse," she said.

Grant travelled from St Catherine hoping for a fresh surgery date and left without one, though she welcomed word of the nurses' return. "All Jamaica feel good because we they are so reliable and I don't hear nobody complain who had the surgery done. That's why I'm interested to get mine done by the Cuban doctor. With all my heart I'm anticipating the Cuban nurse doctors come back to Jamaica," she said.