ST JAMES, Jamaica (JIS) – Care for newborns at the Savanna-la-Mar General Public Hospital in Westmoreland has been boosted through the establishment of a fully equipped Special Care Unit.

The unit was set up through support from the Issa Trust Foundation, which also donated $24 million worth of critical care equipment such as nebulisers, ventilators, and warmers.

It will provide treatment and care for premature babies or those in distress due to respiratory or other condition.

Chairman of the Issa Trust Foundation and hotelier, Paul Issa, who formally handed over the equipment to the hospital on April 19, said the entity has been working with the hospital on the project over several months.

“We are very pleased,” he said. “Mothers can now have confidence that … if their babies are distressed in anyway, they will get the best treatment possible,” Issa noted.

He informed that a similar unit has also been established at the St Ann’s Bay Hospital and “we are replicating that model here and hopefully, at other hospitals across the island.”

Issa told JIS News that the foundation has also arranged training for personnel in the Special Care Unit.

Senior Medical Officer at the hospital, Dr Alfred Dawes, expressed gratitude for the donation and the training of the nursing team and medical professionals.

“It’s not just the donation itself, but the actual training that accompanies it that is really putting us where we need to be in respect of taking care of the premature babies,” he said.

Dr Dawes pointed out that the donation has added significant value to the Savanna-la-Mar General Public Hospital.