Donors pleased with progress of construction

THE South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) says it is pleased with the progress of work to construct the cardiac wing at the Bustamante Hospital for Children (BHC) in Kingston.

The new wing, scheduled to be completed in 2014, is being built under a public/private partnership agreement between the Ministry of Health/SERHA, Chain of Hope UK, Digicel Jamaica, Sagicor Investments Limited, Gift of Life District 7020, the Caribbean Heart Menders, Congenital Heart Institute of Florida and the Rotary Club of Downtown Kingston. The construction is being undertaken by Rene Construction Company.

Digicel Jamaica donated $100 million towards the construction of the facility, with a further $40 million from Sagicor Investments Limited. Chain of Hope has also donated $10 million towards the construction of the wing, which is in addition to equipping the facility, in collaboration with all other stakeholders, which could cost up to US$4 million.

“SERHA is extremely grateful to all our partners for the significant contributions they have made towards the establishment of this state-of-art-facility,” said Lyttleton Shirley, board chairman for the SERHA, which has responsibility for BHC said.

“The new cardiac wing will not only provide an increased number of paediatric Intensive Care Unit beds for the island, but it will also significantly decrease the number of children on the waiting list for surgery,” he added.

Emma Scanlan, executive director for Chain of Hope UK, said her organisation is delighted to be not only a co-funder of the project, but also as the lead trainer in creating a dedicated cardiac team at BHC.

“Chain of Hope is delighted to partner with Digicel, Sagicor and the Shaggy Foundation as well as numerous other partners to create a world class cardiac service for the Caribbean,” Scanlan said.

Similarly, Barry O’Brien, chief executive officer at Digicel Jamaica, said his company is very happy that things are moving ahead with this important project that is geared at boosting access to world class health care for young cardiac patients in Jamaica.

“This project is so important to us at Digicel because giving back, especially to our children, is who we are at Digicel and Bustamante is near and dear to our hearts. We are eager to see this project completed and see children beginning to get the kind of specialised cardiac care that they need,” O’Brien remarked.

Donovan Perkins, president and CEO of Sagicor Investments, said the construction of this unit will enable many more children to gain access to critical cardiac care.

“We are proud of the partnership between Sagicor, Digicel, SEHRA and Chain of Hope in making this a reality. This is a healthy example of how public/private sector partnerships can make Jamaica a better place,” he said.

The cardiac wing will serve children between the ages of zero to 12 years old. It will be fitted with a modern Bi-Plane Catheterisation Laboratory, 10 Intensive Care Unit beds, Operating Theatre and equipment as well as support facilities.

CAPTIONS:

A view from the main road of the now under construction cardiac wing of the Bustamante Hospital for Children. Construction is far advanced for completion in early 2014.

Bustamante 3

Chief executive officer of the Bustamante Hospital for Children Anthony Wood gives Shelley-Ann Harris, senior communications manager at Digicel Jamaica, a quick tour of the under-construction cardiac wing.