Shaggy & Friends foundation donates US$500,000 in medical equipment
KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Shaggy Make A Difference Foundation (SMADF) handed over much needed medical equipment to the Bustamante Hospital For Children on Wednesday, July 12th.
It is the first of a two-part handover of equipment, furniture, parts and accessories with a combined value of more than US$529,000.
Rebecca Burrell, SMADF’s executive director, shared that the foundation hired a medical technologist to “determine what was needed, what needed to be fixed, and what needed to be replaced. We had extensive consultations with the management of the Bustamante Hospital to determine the best path forward.
“We had to determine a strategy for solving the long-term needs of the hospital, and that was where the audit came in. Not including today, the Shaggy Make A Difference Foundation has donated more than 400 pieces of equipment so far and now we are streamlining and expanding our response to the needs,” Burrell added.
She said that this is the first of two handovers, with the second one set for September this year. The handover includes much needed equipment such as ventilators, resuscitators and neonatal patient monitors.
The hospital will also receive other important items such as IV sands, beds and bedside lockers, privacy screens, cast cutters, cribs, bassinets, and medical trolleys. The SMADF is also donating the services of a medical equipment technician for three years to service, maintain, and repair all of the equipment at the hospital.
For his part, Shaggy, who is the founder and chairman of the SMADF, said that he’s “proud that the Foundation, through the help of our dedicated patrons and friends who dare to save a life every time we ask, is able to continue its work and partnership with the Bustamante Hospital.
“We all know that Bustamante is the only hospital of its kind in the English speaking Caribbean. It’s something we talk about all the time, and year after year, thanks to everyone who help, they are more and more able to give their precious patients the best care. It is the beginning of a new era for the services that are offered by the Bustamante Hospital, and we are happy to be apart of it,” Shaggy said.
CEO of the hospital, Anthony Wood, said that the hospital too, is ready to step up to the challenge. “The Bustamante Hospital has some of the best healthcare practitioners and caregivers in the world. They are dedicated and excited about the future of our partnership with the Shaggy Make A Difference Foundation, and continue to deliver and improve the quality, capacity and consistency of the services we offer,” Wood remarked.
Shaggy was introduced to the Bustamante Hospital for Children more than a decade ago while visiting the son of a friend.
The visit opened his eyes to the stark constraints faced by healthcare providers and the devastating consequences they have on the children at the hospital. Even more so because the hospital is the only full-service children’s hospital in the English-speaking Caribbean.
He founded the Shaggy Make A Difference Foundation and since then the organization has donated more than US$1-million in cash and equipment thanks to the proceeds from its 100% charity concert ‘Shaggy & Friends’ and significant private and corporate donations.
