THREE OF the island's hospitals have received grant funds of over $24 million from the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund to meet various needs at these facilities.
The CHASE secretariat on Wednesday revealed at a press conference at the Terra Nova Hotel that 24 health projects had been approved for the calendar year, including the ones given to the three hospitals.
Among the three to benefit from the $24 million is the Bustamante Hospital for Children which received $2.2 million to purchase a well needed haematology machine for the hospital's laboratory.
According to Dr. Sonia Thomas, senior medical officer at the hospital, the machine is necessary for the hospital to provide better patient care.
"We estimate that certainly, some 20,000 patients will benefit from us having this equipment. It has been very difficult for them while the present machine is down," she said.
Prior to acquiring the machine, persons had to do the necessary testing at private facilities, the previous machine having broken down in March. It is designed to do blood count of the white and red blood cells among other necessary tests.
SIX MONTHS SUPPLY OF REAGENTS
The grant will also provide maintenance for the machine for a year and six months supply of reagents.
The Bellevue hospital has also received funding to undertake the establishment of a day centre for homeless persons within the Corporate Area.
According to statistics, the homeless population in Kingston and St. Andrew is estimated to be about 2,000. Dr. Maureen Irons-Reid, senior medical officer at Bellevue noted that 75 per cent of homeless persons have serious mental disorders.
The centre is seeking to "move patients from a state of dependence to independence" by attending to their mental, social and physical needs. The centre being funded at $4.2 million will be housed at the newly renovated Old Morgue located at the hospital.
Equipment to allow the centre to do its work efficiently will also be provided by CHASE. The centre is expected to be fully operational by September.
The National Chest hospital is also a beneficiary and will be purchasing C-ARM Fluoroscope which is a state of the art imaging system. The system costing US300,000 ($18 million) is expected to benefit some 250 Jamaicans particularly cancer patients.
