Savanna-la-Mar Hospital gets five patient monitors, supplies

WESTERN BUREAU:

PATIENT CARE at the Savanna-la-Mar Hospital in Westmoreland got a significant boost on Tuesday with a joint donation of several items from the Issa Trust Foundation and Food For The Poor. The items included five patient monitors valued at US$1,200 (J$171,070.20) each.

The five monitors, which were presented alongside other medical items, were from a batch of 50, distributed to hospitals across the island over the past week, through an initiative spearheaded by the Issa Trust Foundation in March.

Among the other items donated to the Type B hospital were several packages of ear-loop masks, face shields and surgical masks, shoe covers, mattresses, and gloves.

Eric Clarke, chairman of the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA), said the patient monitors, which record and display patients’ vital signs, were acquired through a collaborative effort with several local and international stakeholder groups.

“This thrust came in early March when the rush was on for ventilators and we realised that patient monitors were the next hot items disappearing from the world. Diane Pollard, from the Issa Trust, called me and said she found 50 patient monitors, but because COVID-19 took us by storm, they didn’t have enough funds to buy them,” Clarke explained.

“I suggested to Ms Pollard to arrange a meeting between Issa Trust and other charitable organisations, such as American Friends of Jamaica and Food For The Poor, to pool together to buy these 50 critical patient monitors,” continued Clarke. “We were fortunate to pull together different donor groups that contributed to purchase the monitors on behalf of Jamaica’s hospitals, and they’ve been distributed to all hospitals across Jamaica.