For more than 20 years, Jamaican entertainer and international recording artiste, Orville “Shaggy” Burrell and his Shaggy Make a Difference Foundation have supported Jamaica’s Bustamante Hospital for Children (BHC) program of ‘mending little hearts.’
Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at the hospital, Dr. Sherard Little, said the Foundation’s involvement with the health facility has served the institution well, adding that the impact has been “quite significant”.
Dr. Little pointed out that while the contributions over the years can be quantified in terms of money spent or donated to the hospital, concerts held and pieces of equipment provided, “what you can’t quantify is the number of lives that have been touched”.
He contended that Shaggy’s commitment to the pediatric health facility over the years is unrivaled.
Dr. Little informed that the Foundation has staged six concerts and donated more than US$2 million as well as more than 1,000 pieces of equipment.
He noted that the organization’s single largest spend is on equipment related to the hospital’s cardiac program.
“They were the major donors in the purchase of a cardiac catheterization laboratory, the cost of which was in excess of US$1 million,” he indicated.
Dr. Little added that the Foundation has also donated ventilators, monitors, IV poles, furniture, and syringe pumps.
The consultant surgeon says prior to the purchase of the cardiac catheterization lab, patients who needed this specialized investigation would have to go to the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) to get it done in the Radiology Department.
This had several logistical challenges, including moving patients from the Bustamante Hospital to the UHWI and doing procedures in their radiology unit, which, at the time, was not well equipped to support pediatric patients.
“So, it was very challenging for patients to get investigations done, and there was no other hospital within the public sector that had a cardiac cath lab,” Dr. Little pointed out.
“Bustamante is the first hospital in the public sector to have a cardiac cath lab, which not only allows children to get this important investigation done, but, in some patients with cardiac problems, we can actually do procedures to correct the condition which they have,” he shared.
Shaggy’s name now synonymous with Bustamante Hospital
Shaggy has not only aided financially but also helped to boost the awareness of the facility, especially overseas.
He said that, in some ways, the name Shaggy has become synonymous with Bustamante Hospital, pointing out that this has encouraged other donors and partners, locally and internationally, to come on board and make tangible donations to the institution as well.
“Shaggy partnering with Bustamante has mushroomed or blossomed into a greater awareness of the hospital and its needs, and so we are able to benefit from this as well,” Dr. Little emphasized.
Patients at the hospital can also see the donations made by he artiste, as most of the equipment has been labeled.
“Tangibly, the patients and the parents can see that, as well, and they may say this is a ventilator that was donated by Shaggy,” he added.
.){kind=link}