New Kingston Kiwanians to aid UHWI - High-achieving Jamaican doctor to address women at luncheon

The Kiwanis Club of New Kingston (KCNK) will this year be partnering with the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) to source an ambulatory infusion pump, which will enable chemotherapy treatment for children with cancer.

As part of its major project for the year, the club will also be refurbishing an area at the UHWI to accommodate parents whose children are suffering from cancer and undergoing treatment at the hospital.

The KCNK will be seeking to raise funds to purchase the ambulatory infusion pump through its Celebration of Excellence Luncheon, which will be held on June 17 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, starting at noon.

"Our keynote speaker will be Jamaica-born Dr Rosemary Moodie, an assistant professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto," the club said.

Moodie graduated from the University of the West Indies before receiving postgraduate training in paediatric medicine and neonatology at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids Toronto).

While in her role as neonatologist and clinical teacher in the Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto, she went on to obtain an MBA (Toronto 2001) and MPA (Queens 2011). She is past corporate chief of paediatrics in the Regional Maternal Child Program Rouge Valley Health System; maternal, child, youth, and gynaecology lead CE LHIN; and served on regional and provincial committees advocating to improve health equity and expand quality health-care access for children.

She is a surveyor for Accreditation Canada and consults in areas of planning for regional health-care services and health human resources.

Affordable housing

Moodie recently completed a three-year term as YWCA president and board chair and oversaw the development and opening of the organisation's Elm Centre, which is Canada's largest affordable housing project for single low-income women, females living with mental health and addiction issues, and those of aboriginal ancestry.

Moodie's credentials, the club said, made her an ideal candidate to speak at the luncheon, which, this year, is being held under the theme 'Extraordinary Women: Making a Difference'.

In addition to the keynote speaker, attendees at the luncheon will have the opportunity to share conversations with other Jamaican women, including Mariame McIntosh Robinson, Rhodes scholar and president and CEO of First Global Bank; Paula Kerr Jarrett, attorney-at-law, philanthropist, and businesswoman; and moderator, Imani Duncan Price.

The KCNK is a group of professional and businesswomen who came together 26 years ago to give service through the first all-female club in the Kiwanis movement in Jamaica.