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…