St Jude Hospital has received an ambulance from the Caribbean North Charities Foundation—a donor organization based in Toronto, Canada.

The hospital has been actively sourcing ambulances to support the quality of healthcare delivery to the south of the island.

The ambulance was officially handed over to the management of St Jude during a March 29 ceremony at the George Odlum Stadium.

Chairman, Dr Ulric Mondesir, expressed profound appreciation for the donation on behalf of the hospital and the Government of Saint Lucia.
“I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am for the donation of a lifesaving ambulance to St Jude Hospital,” Dr. Mondesir said. “To many, this might be a small gift, but to the sick man it is the greatest gift.”

The decommissioned 2011 Ford E350 ambulance was presented to the Caribbean North Charities Foundation by the York Regional Municipality Council in Ontario. It comes with a new portable Heartstart AED Philips brand defibrillator and a used Ferno stretcher, fastener, and stretcher bar with installed tracks.

St Jude Hospital began its partnership with Caribbean North Charities Foundation two years ago following an introduction by the Consulate General of Saint Lucia in Toronto. Since then, the foundation has provided nursing education to over 40 St Jude Hospital nurses, continuing medical education (CME) courses to medical staff; over 50 computers to the institution; and more than 1400 backpacks for distribution to the community.

Addressing the ceremony, the Deputy Chairperson of the Caribbean North Charities Foundation, Pamela Harakh, affirmed her organization’s commitment to St Jude Hospital.

“Our initial site visit confirmed that this is an institution that is ready to move to a permanent home and is going to work toward upgrading itself, and we have committed to continuing our partnership to help this process, Mrs. Harakh said.

The handover ceremony was also attended by the Minister for Health and Wellness, Hon. Mary Isaac; Deputy Mayor and Regional Councilor of the Town of Richmond Hill in Ontario, Mr. Vito Spatafora; representatives from Caribbean North Charities Foundation, members of the St Jude Hospital Board of Directors, as well as the hospital’s management and staff.

The ambulance donation comes on the heels of a grant provided to St Jude Hospital by the Government of Japan in February, for the purchase of a new ACLS ambulance.