Issa Trust team and the nurses at the Victoria Jubilee.Hospital
Issa Trust team and the nurses at the Victoria Jubilee.Hospital
ST. ANN’S, Jamaica – From February 28th to March 14th, 2025, the Issa Trust Foundation President, Diane Pollard, was in Jamaica with a team of doctors and nurses from Connecticut Children’s Hospital. The mission is called the Neonatal Nurses Essential Training and Skills Program.
The mission was headed by Dr. Naveed Hussain from Connecticut and Neo-Natal Nurse Practioner Sheron Wagner from Dallas, working alongside Dr. Samantha Walker at theVictoria Jubilee Hospital.
Jamaica’s South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) also played a vital role in the mission. Through the training of the nurses, the mission has helped many sick and premature newborns in Jamaica. Their lives are at risk because there are not enough trained nurses. These nurses are needed to give the special care that these babies require.
The mission focused on the Victoria Jubilee Hospital in Kingston which is the largest maternity hospital in the English-speaking Caribbean.
Dr. Naveed Hussain, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Connecticut and a Neo Natalogist at Connecticut Children’s Hospital, says “We actually started the training online in November of 2024 via Zoom and are here for hands-on training with a site visit.” He added, “At the end of the training, the
nurses who have met the requirements of 75% attendance and 90% competence will awarded a certificate.” He further commented, “We also conducted the Helping Babies Breathe Program which helps nurses to take care of babies in the first minute of life where the baby needs vital oxygen.”
Issa Trust Foundation Contribution
House Speaker Juliet Holness
When the Most Honorable Mrs. Juliet Holness was informed of the mission, she commented, “The Issa Trust Foundation has continued to make high-quality health care available to our most vulnerable and underserved Jamaicans, and for this, they must be applauded. I have continued to be impressed by their dedication to the cause, from their annual medical missions on the north coast to leading in creating a state-of-the-art neonatal
facility at the St Anns Bay Hospital, to now facilitating training of neonatal nurses at Victoria Jubilee Hospital. Organizations like the Issa Trust Foundation continue to inspire hope and prove to be invaluable partners for investing in our future by securing the health of our babies”.
