Linstead Hospital gifted $2.6m in medical equipment
LINSTEAD Hospital, a Type C facility in St Catherine, received a donation of medical equipment, valued at $2.6 million, towards the opening of its paediatric ward from The University of the West Indies (The UWI), Mona Medicine and Dentistry Class of 2027.
Among the donated items were an ECG machine, two patient monitors, four infusion pumps, and accessories, which were officially handed over to the hospital on Tuesday.
Senior medical officer at the hospital Dr Trevor Bygrave underscored the importance of the donation.
He noted that hospital, which serves more than 20,000 patients annually across five parishes — St Andrew, Clarendon, St Mary, St Catherine, and St Ann — will significantly benefit from this much-needed equipment.
Dr Bygrave highlighted that the equipment will support the launch of a paediatric service, as 18-20 per cent of the patients seen at the hospital on a monthly basis are children.
“This donation will play a crucial role in supporting the opening of this service that will further enhance the hospital’s capacity to care for children,” said Dr Bygrave.
The donation was funded through proceeds from the faculty’s annual benefit play, Smoker 2024, called Love at First Wine, a Caribbean adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The production was written, directed, and produced by the students of the Medical and Dental Class of 2027.
Started in 1950 by the late Professor Barrie Hanchard and some of his classmates, Smoker was an outlet for medical and dentistry students to de-stress after their final examinations. However, over the years it evolved into something much more meaningful, a powerful tradition where third-year medical and dental students pour their hearts into creating a theatrical production to support a Type-C hospital.
The Linstead Hospital, which falls under the management of the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA), provides a range of services, including accident and emergency care, general medicine, laboratory and X-ray, mental health services, physiotherapy, and a National Health Fund pharmacy.
