UHWI nurses suspend A&E protest as 28 Haitians held in Portland amid US transit deal

Nurses at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the University Hospital of the West Indies withdrew their services on the morning of 23 June 2026, citing long hours, dangerous patient ratios, overcrowded wards, and missing equipment. The industrial action has been suspended, though the underlying conditions that triggered it remain unresolved.

Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Sydney Powell, the hospital's new acting chief executive officer, said overcrowding reflected patients who had been triaged, diagnosed, and were awaiting admission to specialty wards, with roughly ninety percent requiring general medicine care. A spillover area for critically ill patients was full, alongside occupied stretchers and holding areas. Senior clinical and administrative staff moved fifty patients to wards on 22 June, but patient influx resumed at Jamaica's premier tertiary institution.

Powell said nurses returned after management met with them, conducted a walk-through of the A&E area, and addressed every concern including the nursing lounge and overcrowding. Fixes have started across immediate, short-term, and long-term timelines. The Jamaica Medical Doctors Association sent a letter earlier in 2026 outlining nurses' concerns; sources indicate the response received was dismissive.

Twenty-eight Haitian nationals remain in Jamaican custody following separate arrivals in Portland. On Saturday night, a boat carrying seventeen people—ten adult males, four adult females, and three children—reached Jamaican shores. On 22 June, police detained six additional Haitian males in Portland.

Jamaica signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States on 10 June 2026. Prime Minister Andrew Holness characterized the arrangement as a skilled worker exchange, conflicting with National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang's public confirmation that the MOU covers transit of foreign nationals removed by the United States.

Attorney-at-law Dr. Marcus Goff said arrivals have rights to individual assessment under the Refugee Convention and Cartagena Declaration, which extends protection for those fleeing natural disasters and emergencies. Goff criticised blanket treatment without individual screening for twenty-eight detainees including women and children, contrasting differential policy toward Haitians versus third-country nationals transiting under US arrangement

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