Trinity donates over $100,000 TO WPP

Trinity School of Medicine in St Vincent and the Grenadines continues to show support for and promote the ideals of medical care.

In the institution’s latest show of support, president of Trinity Steven Wilson handed over a cheque of $101,615 to Susan Rickman, CEO of the World Pediatric Project (WPP) on the compound of the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital in Kingstown.

The monetary donation was a joint contribution by faculty, students and affiliates{{more}} of Trinity and was earmarked for assisting with future WPP medical missions. The handing over took place on Thursday, January 14.

Representatives of Trinity witnessing the event were: Sally Wilson; Dr Douglas Skelton, chancellor; Dr Linda Adkison, incoming dean; Dr Andrea Reymann, associate dean of academic affairs and evaluation; Dr Conrad Nedd, assistant professor of clinical medicine and clinical preceptor; Dr Frances Jack, assistant dean of students; and Kaushayla Nedd, head of the deanery, from Trinity. Representing the WPP was Dr Jeffery Lukish, paediatric general surgeon and head of the first WPP Mission for 2016.

Rickman acknowledged her organization’s latest thrust for the region’s ownership of the programme. “We really want St Vincent and the rest of the region to embrace it and take ownership of it,” she said. This, she explained would necessitate the region’s own creation of funding. Trinity’s contribution was therefore, very timely. “These are significant funds for us,” Rickman expounded. “We will be able to put them immediately to use. We’ve got two children right now from this week’s general surgery clinic that need to come to the United States. This right here makes it a reality. We can move on quickly because of funds like this. And it’s just touching that the students and the school felt that it was important for them to do this.”

From all reports, donations like these will become increasingly necessary. As Rickman puts it: “In the future, we expect to increase the numbers of children and to have a representative on every single Eastern Caribbean island who can do it. Our vision is that by 2017, we have 100 per cent coverage of pediatric cardiology for every child in the Eastern Caribbean; by 2020 we want to have 100 per cent coverage of those children that are deemed necessary to have surgical interventions to be placed in one of our partner hospitals, so that they can very quickly get their heart surgeries done.”

These are big goals for the WPP and their realization deeply depends on increased funding.

Trinity’s president acknowledged, “We want to support it both financially and with the resources of the students and the faculty,” he said, “and as they’re expanding throughout the Caribbean, any way we could be of assistance in that, we would do the best we can to support them.”

With plans being scaled upwards for increased WPP coverage of children in need throughout the entire Eastern Caribbean region, Trinity School of Medicine has set the pace for the promotion of accessible health care. Plans for future contributions are being laid.

The World Pediatric Project has been in the Caribbean region since 2001. The non-profit organization conducts 10 medical missions every year. These include: General Surgery and Neo-natal clinics; Ophthalmology and Plastic Surgery; Physical Therapy; Cardiology; Orthopedic clinics; Neurosurgery; and Urology. With SVG being the hub for the project, persons from throughout the Eastern Caribbean converge here to seek medical care.

Thus far, funding has come through the United States.