Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 31, 2023 (ZIZ Newsroom): On Monday the Ministry of Health welcomed a team from Canada that is in the federation to provide training for the staff of the Haemodialysis Unit of the Joseph N. France General Hospital.
The team is led by Charles Estridge, a national residing in Canada, and will assist the staff in learning the proper use of the 15 dialysis machines that were donated through Mr. Charles earlier this year.
During a brief welcoming ceremony at the hospital on Monday morning, Prime Minister and Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Terrance Drew thanked Mr. Estridge and his team for the invaluable service being offered to the Federation.
“We recognize that the dialysis unit would have had challenges in terms of equipment, especially the bloodlines for the machine. So I want to thank Mr. Estridge, who recognized the need and reached out. And even though he is living in Canada, his heart is in St. Kitts as well. What you have offered here would save many, many lives and we can’t thank you enough. I know that your people are very appreciative of the collaboration between you and the hospital …and your team that you have brought; they have sacrificed their time to be here and to donate their time to us. So we can’t say thank you enough.”
Mr. Estridge said he was pleased to be able to give back to St. Kitts and Nevis in this way.
“I feel very honored to have been given the opportunity to give back to my country St Kitts Nevis. Dialysis machine: Why? Because I’ve worked in the area for over 30 years and to be frank, a young cousin of mine died from renal failure so many years ago and later on, another friend of mine died from kidney disease. So it was only fitting for me to do something like this. I’ve been trying to do this for a number of years ,so I’m very honored and very feel privileged to have been able to do that. I thank you for allowing me to do that. The team that I brought down, we’ve got over 90 years of experience. These are all seasoned dialysis professionals. So I want to thank them for taking the opportunity to come down with me to train and to all the machines and I’m really appreciating their support. They’re doing this from the goodness of their heart.”
Referring to the donation and subsequent training as timely, Assistant Nurse Manager of the Haemodialysis Unit Sister Wendy Smithen thanked Mr. Charles and his team.
“This training has come at the right time, as it would help to improve the patient care at the Hemodialysis unit and also to improve the work hours of the nurses. We have been working, as the Prime Minister said, under some stressful conditions, but because of our love for the patients and our loyalty and dedication, we are doing it. And so I think this would be of much relief. So once again, I would like to say thank you very much.”
The Canadian team consists of two registered nurses, Yee Young Sang and Carmela Nelson, along with Biomedical Technologist Jason Maher.
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