Touched by a young woman’s recent experience at a hospital in Jamaica when there was no clothes to cover her while an electrocardiogram was being performed, Michelle Tulloch-Neil launched an initiative to secure medical supplies to assist hospitals across the country.

Tulloch-Neil, the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council (GJDC) representative for the Northeast United States (US), has also issued an appeal to Jamaican organisations across the region to assist with what she says is a new, broader initiative to help improve the health-care system in Jamaica.

Tulloch-Neil did not name the hospital where the patient was admitted, after experiencing an attack of palpitation (a rapid, strong or irregular heartbeat ), but said she reached out to her by phone about the shortages, including sheets and blankets at the hospital.

One of three GJDC representatives recognised by the Government in an ongoing dispute with a dissident group which has registered an organisation of the same name, she made the appeal while delivering the keynote address at the annual fund-raising and awards Banquet of the Ex-Correctional Officers Association of Jamaica Inc in Queens, New York last week.

“There is always more that we can do to help, in keeping with the spirit of the lesson of the Good Samaritan,” she said, acknowledging that there have been similar successful efforts in the past.

She said the drive to acquire the supplies will last for most of the remainder of the year with plans to have them shipped by year-end, noting that the larger the amount received, the larger the number of hospitals and patients that will benefit.

She will also be working with health organisations and hospitals across the US northeast to secure the medical supplies.

Turning to Jamaica’s education system, Tulloch-Neil also announced that 15 basic and high schools, as well as charity organisations are to benefit from a consignment of 40 laptop computers which have already been acquired at a cost of over $4 million.

The computers are to be distributed during the upcoming GJDC’s 10th Biennial Conference slated for the resort city of Montego Bay in St James from June 16 to 19, 2024.

She noted that making the computers available is part of plans to reduce the digital divide and assist young people across the island, who are experiencing significant challenges as a result of a lack of resources.

The Ex-Correctional Officers Association of Jamaica Inc scholarships for 2024 was awarded to Amya Shortt who is graduating from Denzel Washington School of the Visual Arts in Mt Vernon and Jemuel Alexander from Walter G O’Connel High School, Copiague on Long Island, both in New York.