JAAC donates four new dialysis machines to CRH

WESTERN BUREAU:

The Dialysis Unit at the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH), in Montego Bay, S James, has received four new dialysis machines, courtesy of the Jamaica Awareness Association of California (JAAC), which is seeking to help in the effort to strengthen Jamaica’s healthcare delivery following Hurricane Melissa.

The new dialysis machines are a welcomed addition to the 15 units that are already in use at the Type A facility. With the new machines, the Dialysis Unit will be able to treat upwards of 50 patients on a weekly basis.

Leset Stephenson, the departmental manager of the hospital’s Dialysis Unit, was pleased with the donation, which will help in treating patients who come from as far away as Portland and Kingston for dialysis care.

“I have been in the Dialysis Unit for almost 20 years now, and I know the suffering that patients go through. We do have patients out there who are waiting to get on the system because they just cannot afford the private dialysis, which costs a lot, not only for the treatment, but the medications that go along with it,” said Stephenson.

“We have patients who are coming from as far as Savanna-la-Mar in Westmoreland, plus patients from the Mandeville region and Kingston, and we have had patients from as far as Portland. This donation will be assisting the Jamaican people, and we want more persons to come on-stream to see the need and to assist the public,” he added.

According to the Caribbean Public Health Agency, kidney disease is listed in the five leading causes of death in the non-Latin Caribbean region in 2019. In Jamaica, it is estimated that one in seven Jamaicans will develop kidney disease at some point in their lives, due to the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes in the country.

JAAC has also collaborated with the California-based Alliance of Jamaican and American Humanitarians (AOJAH) to bring other medical supplies to the CRH and other selected hospitals across Jamaica. The supplies include patient gowns, surgical gowns, and orthopaedic supports such as splints and braces, masks, and gloves, all valued at US$225,000.

Along with the CRH, the facilities that will benefit from those supplies include the Noel Holmes Hospital in Hanover; the Falmouth Infirmary and the Falmouth Public General Hospital in Trelawny; the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital in Westmoreland; and the Spanish Town Public Hospital in St Catherine.

JAAC President Patrick Williams told The Gleaner that his organisation and the AOJAH pooled their resources to bring the dialysis machines and other medical supplies to Jamaica in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, which ravaged the country last October. The initiative was done ahead of the JAAC’s planned medical mission to Jamaica in June this year.

“We partnered together to pool our resources, in addition to some other groups in Southern California, and we started our hurricane relief drive. Some of the items that were considered for donation were the dialysis units, and these items were donated by Kaiser Permanente Hospital, which is in the AOJAH, and we coordinated all of the logistics for shipping and getting them to Jamaica to donate to CRH and also to Spanish Town Hospital,” said Williams.

“I know of persons that cannot get on to the dialysis ward because they do not have the units available, and there are persons who definitely cannot afford dialysis. For us to go the distance to secure these units, we know that it will be of great benefit to those who cannot afford it, and we want to help save lives,” he added.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com