The 2010 Medical Mission and Education Review
The Issa Trust Foundation embraced a number of exciting challenges and successes during our 2010 Medical Mission. Over a two week span in the St. Mary Parish, we were embraced with 46 medical providers volunteering from the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital, and from Philadelphia. We had witnessed the dedication and initiative of healthcare workers and others who had creative ideas for addressing child health problems. The Key initiative this year was not only meeting the health care needs of children, but to meet our core principles of sustainability by empowering people to lead health efforts in the St. Mary, St. Ann and Kingston parishes.
Issa Trust Foundation has focused on pediatric medical issues that demand immediate action, real solutions, and have measurable results.
Significant Accomplishments:
- Thousands of children were treated by caring medical professionals who worked long and hard every day. Each child not only received free medical care, but also received free medications, fluoride treatments, toothbrushes and stuffed animals.
- Donated over $300,000 of medical supplies and equipment in a forty-foot container to hospitals and clinics.
- Biomedical engineer restored and repaired equipment, mentored and built relationships to ensure that the hospitals and clinics had the means necessary to effectively operate the equipment. As Travis Knottek, biomedical engineer from Philadelphia stated, “Equipment can come and go, but education last a lifetime.”
- Provided Neonatal Resuscitation training, an initiative to improve care to Newborns at the outset of life. Over 50 Jamaica medical providers were provided hands on training (CME credits).
- Pediatric specialists provided training at Bustamante Hospital in Kingston on, Dysmorphology and indications for genetic consultations, newer approaches to childhood asthma, and complications on cancer treatment and its management.
- Bill Weaver, Occupational Therapist, spent time at Three Hills Primary school. His goal was to work with teachers to come away with a better understanding of fine motor development and how to best teach handwriting, and spend time observing the children.
- At the end of the mission, Issa Trust Foundation donated medical equipment, supplies and medications to the St. Mary and St. Thomas parishes in the amount of $50,000 US.
In closing, Issa Trust Foundation has focused on those issues that demand immediate action, real solutions, and have measurable results. We give thanks to all the volunteers, the Ministry of Health and the North East Regional Health Authority, for their partnership. Thank you for dedicating so much of yourselves to serving the people of Jamaica.
