It is wonderful to have the WPP General Surgery team back at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital and a fantastic start to 2023 for so many families. The surgical team were able to see 31 children and 12 were scheduled for surgery. Of the children seen, 23 were from St. Vincent. WPP Paediatric general surgeon, Dr. Jeff Lukish said he was excited to be back with his team and they are happy and committed to the work they do.
Executive Director for WPP Caribbean, Lauren McIntosh-Shallow said they are excited for the year ahead, and thanked the Mustique Charitable Foundation who she said has made it possible for Vincentian children to afford care and surgeries. She said that the regional families have encountered a bit of a challenge, so it really is a collaborative effort to make it possible. There are more team visits planned in the coming months.
“…in the upcoming months there will more teams visiting, including speech therapy later this month, a cardiology diagnostic team, and a multi-disciplinary ophthalmology and plastic surgery team in February.” – Lauren McIntosh-Shallow.
McIntosh said the WPP also plans to unveil and roll out a number of diagnostic clinics in neighbouring islands this year.
“This will facilitate and ease the process for many of our regional families, allowing quicker triage and identification of surgical patients. From there, qualified cases will either come to St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the surgery or be referred outside the country for more complicated cases,” she explained.
Watch the video on the right, to learn more.