FALMOUTH, Trelawny – The Falmouth Public General Hospital received a shot in the arm with a $2.6-million donation of well-needed equipment from The University of the West Indies (UWI) Smoker 2019 on Monday.

According to Devon Brewster, president of UWI Smoker 2019, Smoker is a 60-year-old tradition of The University of the West Indies, Mona, campus where the third year cohort for every medical and dental class puts on a play, the proceeds of which go towards the aid of a Type C hospital in Jamaica.

“And so the Class of 2022 had the responsibility in 2019, and so we put on that production at the Phillip Sherlock theatre and selected Falmouth Public Hospital from some options that we had to be the beneficiary of this production,” Brewster explained.

He noted that the group was able to raise close to $3 million from which they purchased two five-drawer emergency trollies, five baby bassinets, with mattresses, five hospital beds, with mattresses, six privacy screens with frames and a vital sign monitor, which were handed over to the Falmouth hospital on Monday.

“After visiting the hospital, first by some students of the western Jamaica cohort and then some students of the Mona cohort, we recognised that the needs at Falmouth hospital far exceeded its capacity to deliver, especially in light of the reality whereby the hospital is supporting some of the services overflowing from the Cornwall Regional Hospital,” Brewster told the Jamaica Observer West.

He outlined that among the reasons Falmouth was given the nod for the donation was because of its location, “where we have the Western Jamaica Campus of the university”. 

“At the time, a small part of our class was being trained there and so in the effort to want to look at every option, Falmouth was being looked at as one of the prospective, first of all as a Type C hospital that was not a beneficiary in recent years,” Brewster underscored.

Floyd Lewis, acting branch manager at the Montego Bay office of Barìta Investment Limited, the main sponsors for The UWI Smoker 2019, expressed delight to be part of the charity effort of the medical students.

“Barita is proud of the work that Smoker 2019 has done in organising this initiative and is delighted to be a part of it. We recognise that hospitals are at the core of the health care system, and their upkeep in both rural and urban areas is of primary importance.

We are aware of the shortcomings in the system, such as the lack of adequate resources. It is for this reason that Barita was eager to contribute to the Smoker’s charity cause. Opportunities like this to help make a difference in society, especially ones that help to create lasting sustainable change, remains our passion…” Lewis said during the brief handing over ceremony. 

Princess Wedderburn, CEO at the Falmouth Public General Hospital, noted that it is a great honour to receive the items from The UWI 2022 class.

“It could not come at a better time, when we are faced with this pandemic. It’s about public/private partnership and my joy is to see these young people taking on this great task and were able to fulfil their task.  I am seeing them as great leaders that Jamaica and the wider Caribbean can look forward to seeing,” Wedderburn said. “These are some very, very invaluable items being given to the Falmouth Hospital at this time and we are grateful.”

Chairman for the Falmouth Hospital Management Committee, Kenneth Grant, also expressed gratitude.

“Falmouth hospital, like any other medical facility in Jamaica, has its challenges, and any contributions that can be made to the institution by any organisation is greatly appreciated in these challenging times with coronavirus putting extra pressure on medical facilities all over the world and also on our medical and other staff members at the Falmouth hospital. Thank you for your donation and thank you for choosing Falmouth,” Grant said.

Brewster, who hailed his colleagues and sponsors, appealed to corporate Jamaica to assist Type C hospitals.

“I thank the over 300 colleagues as medical students for working hard to put on this production to enable this donation possible, along with our sponsors, chiefly our title sponsor Barita, and just to say that in this time, the season of giving, it is definitely our pleasure. We wish we could do more, but I just want to make a passionate plea to private citizens, companies and so forth to prioritise the needs of our hospitals, particularly our Type C hospitals that are in dire need of donations to maintain services,” Brewster said.

The chairman of The UWI Smoker Committee 2019, Bilal Abayomi, hailed Barita and other sponsors for their donation.