Sanmerna Foundation gifts Lionel Town Hospital well-needed supplies

The Sanmerna Foundation on Monday made the first of three handovers to the Lionel Town Hospital in Clarendon, with the next two stops scheduled for the Spanish Town and Kingston public hospitals.

Teaming up with the Kay Morris Foundation out of Canada and the Triumph Church of God in New York, the foundation donated beds, walkers, wheelchairs, face shields, adult diapers and other toiletries, with the other two hospitals slated to receive the same.

Senior medical officer at the hospital, Dr Andre McKenzie, in thanking the foundation for its generosity, said it couldn’t have come at a better time as they were in great need of the items.

He noted that trauma patients and others who find walking difficult will now be able to move around independently without someone physically assisting them.

“The wheelchair is also something that we use every day for all our patients. Unfortunately, we have lost quite a few over the years and they are not always the most repairable,” he said.

Pointing out that being in the government system, and with the strain on the budget, they get left behind with some of their needs. It was in that light he thanked the foundation for filling the gap even as he expressed the wish that it not be a ‘one-time’ thing.

While acknowledging “the very nice thing” that the foundation did, McKenzie also used the occasion to appeal to other corporate entities to follow suit.

“Get on board and help the other hospitals and let us work together because teamwork makes the dream work,” he said.

Director of the Sanmerna Foundation, Robert White, commenting on their involvement, said the organisation is only living up to its motto which is ‘Giving a helping hand’.

Making the observation that the hospitals are overrun and short on supplies, he said it was their pleasure to donate the supplies.

“Sanmerna Foundation is happy to do so. These gifts make an impact and help to ease the pressure,” he shared.

White also said that after speaking with Nadine Preddie, chief executive officer of the hospital, she made it clear that they would love to have some cribs for the paediatric ward.

The mission, he said, is to now source some cribs with the expectation that they will return soon to do the handover.