US-based Jamaican nonprofit donates J$60M in medical supplies to Percy Junor Hospital

A United States-based Jamaican diaspora organization has donated more than JMD$60 million worth of medical equipment and supplies to Percy Junor Hospital in Clarendon as part of an ongoing partnership aimed at strengthening healthcare services at the facility.

Right Now For Jamaica (RNFJ), a Maryland-based nonprofit, officially handed over its latest donation, valued at approximately US$400,000, on Friday.

The donation included hospital beds, resuscitation equipment, IV poles, recliners, mattresses, overbed tables, tablets, computers and other medical and patient-care supplies.

The equipment is expected to improve patient care and strengthen the hospital’s capacity to serve communities in Clarendon and surrounding areas.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Efficiency, Innovation and Digital Transformation, Ambassador Audrey Marks, praised RNFJ for responding to the hospital’s needs following Hurricane Melissa.

Marks said representatives of the organization visited the facility and consulted with staff to determine where assistance was most urgently needed.

“They saw the pressure on the operating theatre, the needs of the paediatric unit and the challenges affecting out-patient services. We talked about equipment, rehabilitation, trauma readiness, digital systems and the clinical environment in which health care professionals were asked to work,” Marks said.

“We saw a team of doctors and nurses doing their best with what was available to them.”

Marks also praised the hospital’s staff for continuing to provide care despite resource constraints, noting that in the weeks following Hurricane Melissa, Percy Junor Hospital treated patients from as far away as St. Elizabeth.

The latest donation builds on RNFJ’s previous investment in the hospital, including the RNFJ-PJH Ambulatory Clinic unveiled earlier this year.

The $30 million modular, container-based facility features eight fully equipped examination rooms, triage capacity, procedural surgical care, office space and patient recovery bays. It also supports primary care, pediatric services and specialist consultations.

“Critically, resilience has been built into the facility, with backup power, an independent water supply, and off-grid capabilities,” Marks said.

The tablets and computers included in the latest donation are also expected to support Percy Junor Hospital’s planned transition to an electronic medical records system.

RNFJ President Dr. Maurice Miles said the organization was established by Jamaicans in the diaspora following Hurricane Melissa as they sought ways to support the country’s recovery.

Many of the organization’s members have backgrounds in healthcare and education and traveled to Jamaica last November to assess the hurricane’s impact and identify areas where assistance was most needed.

Miles said those assessments led RNFJ to select Percy Junor Hospital as its primary focus.

RNFJ Director Rosalee Gordon said the organization intends to help the hospital’s healthcare workers provide quality care while also supporting education initiatives in Jamaica.

Gordon also acknowledged Matter NGO and Jamaican-founded company Yassuh for supporting the organization’s work.

RNFJ Vice President Dr. Trudy Hall described the organization as a long-term partner of the hospital.

“Every day you save a life, a child is cared for… every day someone gets care to go back home to their families. RNFJ is here as a long-term partner to help you do that,” Hall said.