ALMOST $24 million from the CHASE Fund is to be spent on projects at the Bustamante Hospital for Children, the National Chest Hospital and Bellevue Hospital.

The Bustamante Hospital will be receiving $1.7 million to purchase an automated haematology coulter counter machine to replace a refurbished machine that was donated to the hospital in 1995, but which has been out of service for some time now. Another $500,000 will be spent on a one-year maintenance contract as well as a six-month supply of reagents to the hospital.

Dr Sonia Thomas, senior medical officer for the Bustamante Children’s Hospital, estimates that nearly 20,000 patients will benefit from the new machine that is expected to arrive by the end of the month.

The machine, she added, is used to carry out eight basic tests, including that for white blood cells, red cells, platelets and haemoglobin.

“Previously a lot of this had to be done manually…this requires a lot of the technician’s time,” she said. “This (new unit) is going to decrease the time in which the results are out and free up the other technicians to do other laboratory work,” added Dr Thomas.

Haematology tests are conducted on every child who is admitted into the hospital, all surgical cases and children being treated as out patients.

Meanwhile, the National Chest Hospital will be the recipient of a brand new state-of-the-art OEC 9800 C-arm Fluoroscope mobile imaging machine at a cost of $18 million (US$300,000) from the CHASE (Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education) Fund – proceeds from the lottery games.

The mobile imaging machine will replace the existing unit, which fell into disrepair over 20 years ago.

“It will revolutionise the delivery of health care at the National Chest Hospital by greatly expanding the range of procedures we can offer the public,” said Dr Mikael Tulloch Reid, senior medical officer for the hospital. “Most notably the C-arm Fluoroscope will have the ability to display “real-time” images, as opposed to the still images or photographs produced by standard X-ray equipment.”

The machine, he said, will allow the operator to see movement of structures within the chest.

At the same time, $4.28 million will be spent to renovate the building that was used as the morgue at the Bellevue Hospital and convert it into a drop-off centre for the homeless.

Senior Medical Officer for Bellevue, Maureen Irons-Morgan, said not only will the new centre be cost-effective, but it will also provide a safe place where homeless people can receive health care, and also where their physical and social health needs can be addressed.

“We will be engaged in a very aggressive treatment programme with the intention that these people will be rehabilitated and again become contributing citizens of society and be reunited to their homes and families or they can be put up in whichever housing facilities,” said Dr Irons-Morgan.

She estimated that there are at least 300 persons who are homeless and living on the streets in Kingston and St Andrew. Seventy-five per cent of these people, she said, suffer from severe and chronic mental illnesses.

“We estimate that with the help given by CHASE to this project that in a few years the problem of homelessness in Kingston and St Andrew will be a thing of the past,” she said.

The CHASE Fund was established in November 2002 and began operations in January 2003. Its mandate is to receive, distribute and administer monetary contributions from the lottery companies towards arts and culture, health, sports and education.