The University Hospital of the West Indies Expresses Appreciation for Gift

The Humanitarian Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated a state-of-the-art Natal Care LX incubator to the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) on July 10, 2019. The intensive care incubator will be used in the special care nursery, and is accompanied by two infusion pumps, three Edan IM70 monitors and NIBP cable, four Baum Neonates cuff with oxygen wrap sensors, an Edan ECG cable and three Edan temperature probes. The equipment is valued at over JM $3.3 million dollars, or over US $24,000.00 dollars and greatly increases the capacity of the NICU in treating critically ill newborns.

Mr. Kevin Allen, chief executive officer of the University Hospital, expressed gratitude for the support of the Church. He mentioned that the donation will assist the medical staff and students to provide optimized patient care for the vulnerable newborns that the unit serves. He added that a very good maintenance program is in place at the hospital, therefore they expect to get maximum use from the machine to meet the healthcare needs of the people of Jamaica.

The Church humanitarian representative, Elder Arrington, explained that the funds used to purchase the equipment are from donations made by members of the Church to the Humanitarian Fund which is used for charity.

Andrew Lue, president of the Kingston Stake (Kingston, St. Andrew and St. Catherine congregations of the Church), also spoke about the significance of the machine. He said that it will impact lives for generations to come as staff members become experts at using the machine.

Dr. Shalini Banhan, junior resident, EMD, and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints explained that the incubator is used to keep the baby in a neutral environment with the needed temperature and moisture to maintain normal body temperature for medical care. The machine is also used to provide oxygen, protects against infections and diseases, monitors blood pressure and heart rate levels, and for feeding through the infusion pumps.

Appreciation was expressed by Dr. Roxanne Melbourne-Chambers, head of the Child & Adolescent Health Department, who remembers when the Church donated wheelchairs to the hospital years ago. During the handing over ceremony of the incubator, she thanked the Church for lending Dr. Banhan to the hospital, as she took on the project to secure this invaluable machine for the special care nursery of the NICU.

Mrs. Helena Thompson, senior director of nursing at UHWI, also expressed appreciation by explaining how the machine would make a difference to the neonates within the unit. She also thanked The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints for its support over the years in ophthalmology and in critical care.

In closing, Dr. Carl Bruce, the chief of staff at the hospital, spoke about the importance of having modern technology. He said, “The University Hospital is the last stop for most of the critical patients not only in Jamaica, but across the English-speaking Caribbean.” He expressed the further need of the University Hospital in being equipped with those technologies to support hospitals in the rural areas of Jamaica, who are not able to provide specialized care.