Through the efforts of Paul Doyle and Betty Hope-Gittens, the St Philip District Hospital today received a much-needed donation of beds and other equipment.
Doyle, owner of Crane Resorts and Hope-Gittens, a former beauty queen in Barbados who now resides in Canada and who was awarded the Silver Crown of Merit in 2014 for her contribution to promoting Barbados in Canada, worked together in sourcing and donating 20 beds, 20 tables, 20 chairs, 20 mattresses, 20 walkers and 20 wheelchairs to the hospital.
Hope-Gittens said the idea to donate the items stemmed from a visit to the hospital back in 2019.
However, she said the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic hampered efforts to source and secure the equipment.
She said they had faced several challenges, including being duped out of their money by a company in Asia, which led to them having to buy the beds twice.
“Mr Doyle paid for them the second time because we got ripped off with our money on the first time,” she added.
Hope-Gittens, who runs the Eldercare Foundation in Canada, explained she was also unable to use any of the money raised in Canada to contribute to the donation in Barbados.
She said she had to go through the hassle of opening a bank account and registering a charity on the island, Betty’s Walk for St Philip District Hospital.
As part of her efforts to help raise money for charities, Hope-Gittens walked the 800 km El Camino Trail over 36 days on her 80th birthday.
Hope-Gittens said even though the project was two years in the making she was happy it had come to fruition.
“We came here in January 2019, and we did a tour of the building and then I asked Ms [Moreen] Smith to give us a list of their needs and she did and here we are now. It has taken a long time but as I said we had to have time between promise and fulfillment,” she said.
“Today, here at the St Philip District Hospital we are catching a glimpse of the beauty of setting ourselves aside to attend to the needs of others. This is how these things got here. The people who are responsible for this, they didn’t think about themselves, they thought about the needs of other people.”
She said she was hoping to adopt the facility.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Kenneth George was on hand for the presentation and lauded Hope-Gittens and Doyle for their efforts in looking out for elderly in the community.
“Many of our clients have either dementia, may be immobile, may have non-communicable diseases and certainly are at an advanced age and therefore, this donation is highly timely and we really appreciate your efforts,” he said.
Dr George also revealed that the St PhilipHospital was currently being upgraded. He said construction was taking place on the E2, B2 and the children’s ward.
Principal Nursing Officer at the St Philip Geriatric Hospital, Moreen Smith also expressed gratitude for the donation.
“We are really appreciative because we really needed some of the beds changed out because they are very old beds and we can appreciate having new beds to add to the comfort for our patients,” Smith said.
She was happy to report that there had been no COVID-19 outbreak at the facility. (RB)
