A handsome donation has been made to St Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital from the Jamaica Nurses’ Association of Florida, valued at over $30 million, which hospital staff say will save many lives.

There was a handover of 12 hospital beds, two stretchers, monitors, disposable medical masks, wheelchairs, walkers and other equipment, that arrived at the North East Regional Health Authority (NERHA) facility last Monday.

Dr Tanya Hamilton Johnson, senior medical officer at the hospital, said the donated items will aid in the delivery of care to many patients.

“As I look at each of these things, I know each will save a life. And if you can save a life, that is the important thing. That’s the purpose of us being here. And each of them, we save a life per time, so it multiples. And stretchers for operating theatres do a lot in terms of getting our patients moving fast,” she said.

Hamilton Johnson stressed that the donation is not in vain. “We’ll take care of it and I’m sure we will give the reports of how many lives they will have saved. It is indeed a pleasure to be able to witness this,” she said.

Walcott Allen, director of the Jamaica Nurses Association of Florida, told the Jamaica Observer that the overall cost of the donation was US$200,000.

“How it all started was that some friends of St Ann’s Bay Hospital came up with the idea of trying to do something for the hospital. And then they reached out to the Nurses’ Association of Florida for help in making the project a reality. We got a list of needs from the hospital, so we tried as best as we could within the financial constraint that we had to fulfill as much as we could on that list, with the help of some other folks who donated items and cash,” he said in an interview at the hospital.

“It is a very honourable pleasure to present these items. The shipper actually reduced the cost by about 60 per cent,” he continued.

Allen noted that he has been involved in this kind of initiative for “quite a while”.

“It gives me great pleasure to be here this morning. Every year, we do a mission trip back here in the island, where we have doctors and nurses and other professionals give back to our various communities. I look forward to that every year, and so do the health professionals. People close their office and take their vacation just to come and be a part of giving back to our community. I was involved in the process of procurement and shipping,” he said.

Carmen L Johnson, nurse and departmental manager at St Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital, told the Sunday Observer, “I assure you, they will be used to the utmost health care level that we should, and that our patients will benefit, as many of our areas have been waiting on these things. We are happy that the budget can now be directed to get something else now that we have gotten these things.”

Dennis Morgan, the hospital’s CEO, agreed and expressed “profound thanks” to the Jamaica Nurses’ Association of Florida.

“We are able to do the things that we are called to do in health care because of the generosity of our fellow Jamaicans either here or in the diaspora. These items will be put to significant use and as a result of the generosity of the Jamaica Nurses’ Association of Florida, we are able to direct funding that would’ve been earmarked to purchase things like an ECG machine elsewhere, and so, to continue providing health care to Jamaicans,” he related.

St Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital provides health-care services to a population of approximately 360,000 people. Morgan noted that because of its location in the north-east region, it is also used by tourists visiting the island.

“We are in the midst of the tourism belt. No one ever plans to get sick, but when it happens, this is the facility that we see more often, a number of visitors to our island are stopping. So, having these equipment will help us in tremendous way to provide service. I want to thank the Nurses’ Association of Florida for not throwing stone behind them, but continuing to do their part in enhancing health care in Jamaica,” Morgan said.

Meanwhile, Allen told the Sunday Observer that the Jamaica Nurses’ Association of Florida may make a similar donation to another local hospital next year.

“We are happy to be a part of this and we will continue to be a part of this as opportunities come up. And these are all nurses that were actually trained in Jamaica and migrated and keep thinking of the situation back home. Sometimes the report you get isn’t always good, but those of us in the system know that there are good things happening.

“We have eyes in various places to see these things and as soon as the opportunity comes, we grab them. It’s something coming home and see that we can be a part of the process. If we can save one child, one person, we would have made a difference. So, we are continuously working every time with our partners. The Baptist Hospital of Florida were very gracious to us, and the Kiwanis Club of England are part of this process. It’s a team effort that manifested itself in what you see today,” Allen said.