NHF Donates Ultrasound Machine To UHWI’S Foetal Diagnosis Unit

The National Health Fund (NHF) has donated an ultrasound machine valued at US$96,356 to the Foetal Diagnosis and Therapy Unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI).

The machine will provide advanced imaging to check on the health of the baby and ensure greater accuracy in detecting, diagnosing and treating complications to improve antenatal care.

Addressing the handover ceremony at the hospital in St. Andrew on Tuesday (December 10), Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, said the machine is an “important addition” to the maternal care being provided at the institution, which is a leader in Jamaica and the wider region.

“The acquisition of this equipment places you where you belong, which is to provide leadership in all sense of the word, whether it is to others who are learning, those who need care… as well as enhance the quality of healthcare delivery in the society,” the Minister said.

He said that come next year, work will be advanced on the UHWI hospital development programme.

Ground was broken in February for the Ring Road rerouting project, which is the first phase of the multiphased upgrading programme.

The works, which are under way, will create a green field for the construction of a six-storey building with additional surgery and ward spaces and specialist services to improve healthcare delivery to Jamaicans.

It will include an additional 40 medical and surgical beds, improvements to outpatient or ambulatory surgery, lecture and conference rooms, and upgrading of the cardiology hybrid interventional surgery room and the neonatal intensive care and administrative departments.

“The designs are almost complete and it is going to be more rooms, more operating theatres, more procedures, better surroundings for those who work within the organisation,” the Minister said.

Chief Executive Officer of the NHF, Everton Anderson, said the agency will continue to make investments to alleviate strains and reduce gaps in the healthcare system, and provide coverage for illnesses.

Medical Officer of Health for the Hospital, Dr. Carl Bruce, in his remarks, said the equipment will “move us forward and ensure that the high-risk [pregnancy] programme continues to thrive”.

The UHWI provides critical-care services, which include accident and emergency, intensive care, neonatal intensive care, coronary care, and specialist care consisting of cardiac and complex neurosurgical procedures.