ST JAMES, Jamaica (JIS) – The paediatric ward at the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in Montego Bay is to be outfitted with a modern state-of-the-art sterilisation unit, valued approximately $24.4 million (US$200,000).

The new facility is being provided through the ‘Children’s Investment Fund Foundation’ charitable organisation of British financier and philanthropist, Christopher Hohn, who is of Jamaican parentage.

The gesture resulted from discussions between Hohn, and Montego Bay businessman, Mark Hart, who is a member of the ‘We Care Foundation’, a private sector charitable organisation which supports engagements targeting enhanced service delivery at the hospital.

The system, which will be housed in a refurbished section of the ward, will ensure the hospital’s strict compliance with international standards governing healthcare delivery for toddlers and infants.

Hohn, who visited the hospital recently bearing gifts for patients on the ward, told JIS News that he felt compelled to make the gesture after being told of the institution’s need for the facility.   

He said it forms part of the organisation’s undertaking to “come (to Jamaica) each year to give a few gifts, (and) recognise the (less fortunate, as we) try to give back (to others).”

Consultant Paediatrician at the hospital, Dr Tracey Gilbert, welcomed the provision of the sterilisation system, underscoring its importance in creating a safe and healthy environment for the patients and medical staff.

“It helps to kill bacteria and (prevent the spread of) any infectious disease that the children could get exposed to,” Dr Gilbert said, stressing that “any equipment that we use…has to be very sterile.”