MP hopeful donates wheelchairs to Ocho Rios Health Centre
Published:Wednesday | February 26, 2025 | 12:06 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
Dr Ryan Simpson, the People’s National Party’s (PNP) prospective candidate for St Ann North East, on Monday donated two wheelchairs to the Ocho Rios Health Centre in the parish in response to a request.
Simpson said he hoped the wheelchairs would add value to the service being offered at the facility.
“It is my greatest pleasure and delight to make a presentation of these two wheelchairs to the Ocho Rios Health Centre,” he said at the handover.
“One of your dedicated workers reached out to me a couple months ago to request if we could make a donation of two wheelchairs and she was quite determined, quite insistent, saying that it’s very, very important.”
Simpson continued, “That’s the kind of people we want in our organisation to work for us; she wasn’t thinking of herself, she was thinking of the institution.
“A lot of people believe the government should provide everything, but for her it was ‘wherever we can get some help, we need the help’. She saw the need that this health centre could do with some wheelchairs and she reached out to me.”
Public health nurse Shelly-Ann Bennett-Rose received the wheelchairs on behalf of the administrators of the facility.
“On behalf of the Ocho Rios Health Centre and by extension the health department, we thank you. They will add to our fleet and the care that we give our patients,” Bennett-Rose said.
The two wheelchairs were immediately put to use, as two patients waiting for service at the facility on Monday made sure to sit in them as soon as the handover was completed.