Guardsman Group supports wellness
Partners with JN to give solar energy to Bustamante Hospital
THE GUARDSMAN Group, in partnership with the Jamaica National Group, recently donated funds to acquire a solar energy system to the Bustamante Hospital for Children to be used to power its Intensive Care Unit. The solar energy system is a pilot project that will be facilitated by Future Energy Group, and is projected to produce $28 million in savings for the hospital for the next 20 years.
The presentation was made possible through proceeds from the successful staging of the Guardsman Games, which was held at the Hope Zoo in St Andrew during September of this year. The Guardsman Group intends to use the games to promote good by challenging corporate entities and individuals alike to ‘light up lives’ of those who are impacted by the hospital. The Guardsman Games is an obstaclecourse race and team-challenge event that was uniquely designed to promote the core values of the Guardsman Group, including family, healthy lifestyles, and bringing communities together.
Minister of Health, Dr Christopher Tufton, in accepting the donation on behalf of the hospital, commended Guardsman, Jamaica National, and other supporting entities for making the commitment to public health and, in particular, the Bustamante Hospital for Children.
“Public health requires partnerships, as we will never have enough in terms of government resources,” said Tufton. “Anywhere in the world you go, even in the more developed countries, the best-performing public health institutions are those that have friends of the institutions and persons who have benefited and continue to give back. There is also philanthropic support from corporate donors,” the minister stated.
He added: “It’s not just about your health, as important as that is. It is also about us working together to promote and to encourage health and wellness. The Guardsman Games is an indication of a packaged approach in terms of health and wellness. Coming together like this not only demonstrates the success of the event, but underscores that contributing to institutions of health is the perfect approach.”
The Bustamante Hospital for Children has the distinction of being the only specialist paediatric facility in the English-speaking Caribbean. With a bed capacity of 283, the institution caters to patients from birth to 12 years, and provides a comprehensive range of diagnostic, preventive, curative, rehabilitative, and ambulatory services in paediatric medical and surgical specialities and sub-specialities. The hospital caters not only to patients from across Jamaica, but from neighbouring Caribbean countries as well.
Peter Morrison, winner of the Guardsman Games Obstacle Course Challenge, represented the island for the first time at the fourth staging of the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships that was held in Ontario, Canada, from October 13-15, 2017.