Savanna-la-Mar hospital gifted US$30,000 laparoscopic tower

Western Bureau:

The Jamaica Awareness Association of California (JAAC), in the United States, has donated a laparoscopic tower valued at US$30,000 to the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital in Westmoreland to assist with strengthening healthcare delivery in western Jamaica. 

The gift, which forms part of an overall mission that exceeds US$500,000 in total assistance, will allow the hospital to provide surgeries, screenings and medical outreach, which is essential to its operations.

Speaking during the handover ceremony at the hospital, outgoing JAAC President Patrick Williams said the organisation, which was formed after Hurricane Gilbert 38 years ago, has grown from a simple charity initiative into a comprehensive medical and educational mission.

“This year marks our 26th annual mission trip,” Williams said. 

“We have approximately 86 volunteers on this mission this year, composed of our surgeons, we have our medical doctors, we have our dentists, nurses, pharmacists, educators, IT (information technology) personnel, support staff and we also have some dental students along the team.”

The week-long mission included surgical services at hospitals in Mandeville, Manchester; Annotto Bay, St Mary; and Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland while medical, dental and educational teams visited communities across five parishes.

According to Williams, the decision to donate the laparoscopic tower came after seeing the needs at the Savanna-la-mar hospital following Hurricane Melissa.

“There was a conversation about trying to see what we can do. They need at least a complete set (laparoscopic tower). We didn’t want to put part in and then the other part fail,” he said. “We purchased the laparoscopic tower and delivered it to Savanna-la-mar Hospital,” 

 Dr Raymond Wedderburn, general and trauma surgeon at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, explained that the equipment would significantly improve patient care by enabling minimally invasive procedures.

“The whole idea was to work with local surgeons to get them more comfortable with laparoscopic or minimally invasive surgery,” he said. “Some folks refer to it as keyhole surgery since we’re doing big operations with small incisions.”

According to Wedderburn, smaller incisions translate into reduced pain, faster recovery and quicker returns to normal activity for patients.

Dr Suman Vemu, the senior medical officer at the Savanna-la-Mar hospital, described the donation as transformative for the institution and surrounding communities.

“Their impact is three ways. One is the generous donation of the laparoscopic tower, and the second one is doing surgeries, endoscopic, chronoscopies and laparoscopic surgeries, and the third one is training the staff, teaching,” he said.

He noted that the hospital’s previous laparoscopic unit had become non-functional, limiting its ability to offer minimally invasive procedures.

“By providing this laparoscopic tower, where we are right now, we can offer surgeries to the community with a minimal invasive, so less need of blood, it will shorten the patient stay, and will address our overcrowding to a certain extent,” Vemu said.

During the mission, the visiting team treated 43 patients and carried out 53 procedures, including 19 endoscopies, 23 colonoscopies, six laparoscopic surgeries and four open surgeries. One colonoscopy detected a suspected malignant growth that was biopsied for further testing.

Beyond the procedures themselves, Vemu highlighted the lasting value of knowledge transfer to local staff.

“When you do teaching and training for the staff, when you come and do surgeries, you did not come just to do surgeries.  You did surgeries along with the team who is at the ground. So that itself is sharing expertise and leaving the expertise here,” he said.

In emphasising the commitment of the JAAC, Williams said every volunteer funds their own travel and accommodations, allowing donations and fundraising proceeds to go directly toward supporting Jamaicans in need. 

“We definitely want to have a real impact on the people that we serve in the rural parts of Jamaica,” he said.

mickalia.kington@gleanerjm.com