One hundred and thirty residents from Port Royal, Rockfort, Mountain View and Franklyn Town communities accessed no-cost medical consultations and prescriptions at a health fair on July 18. The event, organized and funded by the Jamaica Private Power Company (JPPC) was staged in partnership with the Windward Road Health Centre, National Health Fund (NHF) and public hospitals. Medical consultations, patient screening and processing were powered entirely by the volunteer service of medical doctors, student nurses, community representatives and the company’s team members.
In observation of safety precautions made more consequential by the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, the health fair utilized a pre-registration process for residents to pre-select their medical appointment slot. This allowed for crowd-control and a streamlining of the screening and consultation process. On entry, each resident was screened for symptoms of COVID-19; had their temperatures checked to ensure no one had a fever equal to or higher than 100.4F and hands were properly sanitized with a 70% alcohol solution. Throughout the health centre prominently displayed signs reminded everyone of symptoms and social-distancing protocols to keep safe.
JPPC’s health fair in East Kingston followed on the heels of a dental fair hosted at no-cost to residents last November. This initiative is also staged annually by sister companies within the Jamaica Energy Partners group to benefit residents of Old Harbour Bay and West Kingston communities. Similar investments in support of the health and wellness sector such as outreach activities and donations to hospitals are high on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandate of the independent power producer (IPP) group.
The volunteer team of medical doctors from KPH, Spanish Town and UHWI hospitals have reported that the majority of residents serviced at the health fair were afflicted with chronic non-communicable diseases (hypertension, diabetes), allergies or sinusitis and physical pains. Residents who needed medical attention or testing not offered regularly at the health centre were provided with referrals. The JPPC’s partnership with the NHF enabled residents with or without health cards the ease of fulfiling their prescriptions free-of-cost at the on-site pharmacy.
