Medical Assistance

Sav La Mar Public Hospital, on the West end of the island in the Parish of Westmoreland, has been "adopted" by FOJ. The director, Marcia Burke, has been involved with the Pediatric Ward at Sav Hospital for several years before becoming FOJ's director.

The budget of the hospital, as with all government supported hospitals in Jamaica, does not allow for purchase of some basic supplies that hospitals in the US take for granted. FOJ has provided some of these supplies on an ongoing basis. These include Pediatric IV sets purchased at a fraction of the US cost from a supplier in Jamaica, IV catheters, and small feeding tubes. Used, but otherwise completely serviceable, medical supplies are collected in the US and shipped by Food for the Poor to Kingston. Donations are needed for the cost of getting the supplies to Florida. Food for the Poor handles everything from there, including getting the supplies through customs. 

Friends of Jamaica also shipped two donated incubators to the public hospital in Sav la Mar. They had not one functioning incubator before one was recently donated by another group. At times, the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) at the hospital has up to 10 premature babies needing the additional warmth of an incubator. FOJ paid for the trucking cost to get them to Florida where Food for the Poor shipped them to Jamaica at no cost to FOJ. We were able to get a 65% discount from the trucking company, but the cost was still significant at $265.

Update

In December 2007, Sav La Mar received a large shipment of used medical supplies donated by several FOJ supporters, and a transport incubator donated by the NICU at Rockford Memorial Hospital, Rockford, IL. (FOJ director Marcia Burke worked in that unit for 23 years) Premature and sick newborns are often transferred to Montego Bay or Kingston for more specialized care. This incubator will greatly improve the chances of survival of these tiny patients by helping keep them warm and stabilized during the transfer.