Atlanta sister city health team to visit Montego Bay

A team of 52 volunteers including medical practitioners, nurses and other non-medical volunteers will arrive in Montego Bay on Saturday, October 7 to participate in the staging of the Atlanta-Montego Bay Sister Cities Vin Martin Memorial Health Mission.

Medical director, Dr. Yvonne Smith, will once again head the mission from Atlanta, which will be hosted by Mayor of Montego Bay Councillor Leeroy Williams and the Montego Bay Chapter of the Sister Cities Committee, chaired by Fred Smith.

Smith said the mission will run from Monday, October 9 to Wednesday, October 11, starting at 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Specialists in the field of opthalmology, gynecology & obstetrics, paediatrics, internal medicine, dentistry, nursing and pharmacology will be in attendance this year, with community outreach programmes planned for Adelphi and Green Pond.

Dr. Yvonne Smith indicated that, as is customary, a significant donation of medicine and other supplies has been received from pharmaceutical companies in the United States. She said that while the team from Atlanta could not be in close contact with the citizens of Montego Bay and environs over the Covid-19 lockdown period, they nevertheless arranged care packages for the citizens and delivered over $10 million worth of equipment and supplies to the Cornwall Regional Hospital.

Mayor Leeroy Williams commended the team’s effort. “It is with great appreciation that we acknowledge the invaluable contribution and support received through our sister cities relationship with Atlanta. I salute the Atlanta team and also commend the Montego Bay team for their shared commitment and volunteerism which benefits our city and our nation as a whole,” he said.

The visiting practitioners will be joined in Montego Bay by local physicians, nurses and scores of non-medical volunteers.

The mission is also facilitated by the Ministry of Health & Wellness and the St. James Health Department, and is one of the major events staged to coincide with Montego Bay’s celebration of city status. Dr. Yvonne Smith and Fred Smith commended Dr Hector Robinson, Reverend Robert Pierre and the officers and members of the St. John’s Methodist church for allowing the committee the use of their facility over the past 26 years.

The Atlanta-Montego Bay Sister Cities Committee is one of the 18 members of the Atlanta Sister Cities Commission with Mayor Andre Dickins as its honorary chair.