the city dispensary

The Kingston City Dispensary was established in 1876 at 4 Heywood Street, through the efforts of Weslyan activist B.A. Franklin, whose focus was on the development of facilities for the poor. The Dispensary aimed to provide medical care and medicine for artisans, labourers and the poor through a relatively affordable subscription system. People who had jobs were enrolled and paid a small weekly subscription based on income. Children of members up to two years of age were given free attention. From two to ten years of age the cost was 1 ½ pence per week. Married women whose husbands and children were members were attended in pregnancy free after one year of membership. In 1882, the Dispensary was given management of a bequest to the poor left by Charles D’Espinose in 1875, dividends of which provided free medical care to a limited number over several decades. In 1895, the dispensary moved to new quarters at 14-16 Duke Street and was renamed the New City Dispensary.  

From 1938, the Dispensary was operated by a panel of medical officers, instead of a single doctor. In June 1950, Secretary D.E. Harty, in a letter to the editor of the Gleaner newspaper, appealed for businesses with large numbers of employees to collaborate with the New City Dispensary to give their employees “the benefit and protection of an efficient medical service which is readily available at all times.” He noted the organisation’s long history of providing a medical plan for poor Jamaicans despite financial limitations.

In the early 1970s, the New City Dispensary provided significant funding towards the establishment of a Community Health Centre to serve under-served populations in the areas surrounding the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus in Kingston. The Centre, which is run by the UWI’s Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, was officially opened in 1972.

The Dispensary continued to provide services from its Duke Street building, which was renovated in 1982 through the efforts of Patrick Lawe, then Manager of the Knutsford branch of Life of Jamaica. The entity no longer exists.