SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Operations of the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) have been significantly boosted following two donations aimed at strengthening recovery and resilience post-Hurricane Melissa.

Last Friday, University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) Finance and Banking Seminar students donated $200,000 to the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital in Westmoreland, which will go towards repairing the nurses’ quarters. Earlier in the week, a ceremony was held at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in St James in recognition of the more than $42-million worth of emergency and clinical supplies donated to WRHA by Jamaica Red Cross (JRC), in partnership with the Canadian Red Cross (CRC). WRHA manages hospitals and clinics within the parishes of Westmoreland, Hanover, St James and Trelawny.

Chief executive officer (CEO) of the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital, Roan Grant emphasised that the UTech contribution — while modest in size — will be a big help.

“This initiative is well-received on behalf of our team here. And even though they say it’s small, it’s very impactful because what it will be doing will be rehabilitating our nursing quarters,” stated Grant.

“While they [nurses] were impacted they were still giving service. And we have to find a way to reach out to them as well and let them know that we have their interest at heart as well — not just them executing their duties but as well as their well-being in terms of accommodations,” argued the CEO.

Grant revealed that the hospital’s windows and roof were damaged. There is also a need to upgrade the electrical system and panels. Grant said the donation will be added to the money already in hand to facilitate refurbishing of the building.

President of the UTech Finance and Banking Seminar, Jeneric Coleman said most seminar students are from Westmoreland, hence the decision to make a donation in the western end of the country. The group is elated that they were able to provide a helping hand.

“We weren’t aware that Westmoreland was getting back off its feet like this. I’m in high spirits because the journey here — the hospital, giving back, especially to a hospital that helps people — it says a lot. Even though it’s not much, it’s something. It’s always better to give something than just be a bystander,” stated Coleman.

The seminar has been in existence for the past 15 years. In explaining its function, Second Vice-President Kristina Johnson said the end goal is to raise funds for their upcoming conference in April.

“We host different events so that we can raise funds. We also attend different networking events so that we can meet different speakers that we potentially want to speak at our conference in April and, again, give back to the community. With any organisation, while the goal is to make money we have to ensure that we’re giving back to our community because the community essentially supports us,” reasoned Johnson.

Meanwhile, a grateful minister of state in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Krystal Lee has welcomed the items received from the earlier donation by the Red Cross. Among the items are emergency airway management kits, suction catheters, triage tools, as well as emergency room and triage kits components.

“I want to thank the Government of Canada, once again, the Canadian Red Cross, the Jamaica Red Cross and its network of over 350 volunteers, members and staff islandwide for their continuous and unwavering support towards the public health system, and overall the nation’s humanitarian response,” she said.

Director general of Jamaica Red Cross Yvonne Clarke noted that, following the storm, the entity took action and immediately mounted an emergency relief response to prevent a crisis by mobilising immediate services and personnel from its large fraternity.

Clarke said their Canadian counterparts, in partnership with their Government and other partners, delivered assistance to the Jamaica Red Cross.

Through their rapid needs assessments more than 41,000 people were reached with humanitarian assistance, cash support was delivered to nearly 5,000 individuals, while 21 mobile clinics were deployed, and potable water provided for some communities. The community of Cambridge in St James was one such beneficiary.

“When we were doing that we were thinking ahead. We have begun to look at resilience, recovery, and strengthening of systems so that if another lady or body like Melissa has the rude idea of coming our way again, we will be in a much better position to throw it out and to say, ‘Don’t come here. You’re not welcome,’ ” said Clarke.

“These supplies that we have made available, we hope will strengthen the emergency room operations, enhance infection prevention and control, support maternal and child health, improve trauma stabilisation, and expand surge capacity. In simple terms, they mean that when pressure increases on our health system, there are tools and resources in place,” she continued.

Clarke said the handover of items also aligns with the next phase of Jamaica Red Cross’s Hurricane Melissa response strategy.

“Our focus now includes continued community health outreach, support for rebuilding safer homes through ‘build back safer’ training, strengthening community-based disaster response structures, expanding psychological support services, and enhancing emergency response capacity at both community and institutional levels,” she revealed.

The event at which she spoke was Jamaica Red Cross’s second handover ceremony. The first took place in January at Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital.

Other speakers included International Federation of Red Cross Head of Delegation for Jamaica Jamie LeSueur; Canadian High Commissioner to Jamaica Mark Berman; Jamaica Canadian Red Cross Head of Operations Chiran Livera; and newly installed WRHA Acting Regional Director Deveta McLaren.

Participating in last Friday’s cheque handover were (from left) University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) Finance and Banking Seminar (FBS) Marketing Committee representative Alex Simms; Westmoreland Public Health Services Parish Manager Novlin Leslie Little; UTech FBS Second Vice-President Kristina Johnson; CEO of Savanna-la-mar Public General Hospital Roan Grant; UTech FBS Accounting Chair Tionne Noble; UTech FBS Auditing Chair Ronaldo Logan; and UTech FBS Deputy Accounting Chair Christina Campbell.  (Photo: Anthony Lewis)