Hearing them clearly

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) gynaecology and obstetrics department has received a donation of eight Huntleigh Doppler ultrasound units. The machines, valued at just over BDS$20, 000, were donated by The Barbados Canada Foundation (BCF).

This morning, Director of Medical Services Dr Anthony Harris received the donation from Dr Barbara Trieloff-Deane who represented the BCF. The Canadian Registered Charity was formed in Toronto in 2013 to provide scholarships to young people of Barbadian heritage attending college or university in Canada.

Dr Harris who extended gratitude to the foundation for its continued support to the hospital said the machines, though small, were sophisticated and allowed medical practitioners to listen to the baby’s heartbeat in its mother’s womb to ensure that the baby is growing normally and naturally.

“These, I assure you, are going to be put to very good use in our obstetrics department and the labour wards setting. As far as the whole initiative of improving the care to our littlest and the kids of Barbados, we are also very grateful for your association with the hospital for sick kids in Barbados, the Sick Kids Hospital,” Dr Harris added.

Dr Trieloff-Deane explained that in 2018, the foundation entered into an arrangement with QEH to see how they could best support the equipment prospectus.

“It is interesting when we think about the vision of the Barbados Canada Foundation. The vision is a world in which all youth have an opportunity to realise their potential and also where the best possible medical care is available for everybody; in this case, the ultrasound units supporting healthy births and out of that [will] come youth who eventually will be supported to help realise their potential.

“From its inception, the Barbados Canada Foundation has been very focused on a number of charitable initiatives, in terms of healthcare, with specific focus on children, cancer, diabetes, sickle cell anaemia and [it] also supported the Sick Kids Hospital Caribbean Initiative,” Dr Trieloff-Deane added.  (AH)