
Percy Junor Hospital
Brief History
The construction of Percy Junor Hospital emerged from Mr. Percival Junor, a Justice of the Peace,
Business Man, Financier, Farmer and Philanthropist, personal experience and the need to alleviate the suffering of sick people.
He approached the Government of Jamaica with a proposal to finance the building of a hospital with two
conditions, firstly it is named "Percy Junor Hospital" and that it remained a public hospital. This proposal was accepted
and with the assistance of his sister Ms. Blair, 20 acres of land was purchased from Mr. Ernest Napier and Allan Reynolds.
Suitable land was identified on the border of Manchester and construction began in 1943 and lasted until 1945.
A reservoir overlooking the hospital was built to supply water for construction. The entire building was
made of cut stones and consisted of a Maternity, Out Patient, Male, Female, Administrative blocks, Kitchen, Laundry and Morgue.
The hospital was handed over to Premier Alexander Bustamante on behalf of the people on the 28h June 1945, and opened by
Sir John Huggins Governor-in-Chief of Jamaica.
The services of Dr Vincent Robb (the best of the crop at that time) and Matron McIntosh were engaged.
Within a year the hospital became widely known and the populace and an envy of other hospitals sought after its sevices.
In 1946 an Operating Theatre, private block, Lab and X-ray departments were officially opened, Mr. Junor also made a
contribution of an additionally sixty (60) beds. Within another year a Nurses' residence and Doctors' quarter were constructed.
The massive migration of nurses and doctors to Britain paved the way for the opening the Enrolled Assistant
Nurses School in 1969 and the isolation ward was converted into a training school. The first batch of twenty-five pupils was
trained under the supervision of the first principal Mrs. Pearl Russell (now a retired Matron of the hospital). Prior to the
establishment of the Paediatric ward in 1970, the children were housed in an enclosed area of the female Medical Ward. The
private block was later converted into a paediatric ward to accommodate twenty-two children, and in later years a
"New Nurses Home" was built to accommodate eight nurses.
The Ministry of Health under the Southern Regional Health Authority board administers a gift from the late
Percy Junor, donated to serve the people in Spalding and its environs. This Type "C" hospital serves as a receiving health
institution for Alexandria Poly Clinics in St Ann, Chapelton Community Hospital in Clarendon and Ulster Spring Community
Hospital in Trelawny.
The tradition of giving tangible support to the hospital is a long lasting one; additional Operating and
recovery rooms were construction in 1989 by the Friends of the Hospital. Another great Philanthropist and tower of support,
Mrs. Una Nash donated lands adjoining the hospital, to be used as a Helicopter Landing Pad. Presently, the friends of the
hospital and relatives of the late Arthur Chen are undertaking construction.
Profile
Percy Junor Hospital is a Type C Hospital situated in Spaulding, the North East section of the parish of
Manchester, near the border of Clarendon. It has a bed capacity of one hundred and twenty one (121) with an average
occupancy of 74% and serves a population of approximately two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) in the neighbouring
parishes of Clarendon, St. Ann and Trelawny.
Services offered include: General Medical and Surgical, Curative Management, Obsteric and gynaecologic,
Paediatric, X-Ray and Laboratory. There are also Surgical and Medical Out Patients Clinic.
Vision Statement
We envision the Percy Junor Hospital to be the best customer friendly institution providing comprehensive
quality care in a clean, healthy and pleasant environment.
Mission Statement
To provide reliable and quality health care for our customers.
Objectives
- Providing medical, surgical, obstetric, psychiatric, pharmacy and diagnostic (X-ray and Laboratory) services at the highest level.
- Providing quality services through a highly motivated and courteous staff in a clean and comfortable environment.