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Spanish Town Hospital gifted with ECG machine

Published:Monday | January 25, 2021 | 12:08 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
The presentation of the ECG machine to the Spanish Town Hospital.
The presentation of the ECG machine to the Spanish Town Hospital.

The Spanish Town Hospital in St Catherine will be able to treat more patients with cardiac complains as a result of the addition of an electrocardiogram (ECG) machine commonly used to detect problems with the heart.

The gift, made possible by the New Jerusalem Church of Christ, situated in Queens, New York, was handed over to the hospital last Wednesday by Professor Elaine Brown, representing the US-based church.

Brown told The Gleaner that members of the church who participated in a health fair at the Lighthouse Ministries in Spanish Town in 2019 had developed a partnership with the Spanish Town hospital during that time.

“We were given a list of things that the hospital was in dire need of, and the ECG machine was on the list. Being a healthcare provider myself, I understand the challenges when we are unable to provide adequate healthcare for our patients,” she stated.

According to her, the church then made the decision to purchase the machine as a gift to the hospital.

“We could not be happier to be able to assist in this regard,” she declared, adding that the partnership forged between the hospital and her church will continue with the presentation of additional equipment in the future.

Hospital CEO Dwayne Francis said the gift could not have come at a more convenient time, in the era of the coronavirus pandemic that the hospital is currently dealing with.

“We are thankful for this machine which will further boost our capacity to attend to more patients with cardiac complains,” Francis disclosed. “It is a very expensive equipment that comes at a time when we need every support we can get.”

According to Francis, the machine is critical in terms of managing the demand placed on the hospital each year for this level of healthcare.