Sagicor Foundation says funds raised for UHWI Paediatric Unit was used to acquire CT scan machine

Sagicor Foundation has indicated that millions raised to benefit the Paediatric Unit of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) was used to acquire a computerised tomography scan machine, for the health facility.

The foundation sought to bring clarity, to the issue after Opposition Spokesman on Health, Dr. Alfred Dawes raised concern over the possible diversion of approximately seventy-five million dollars, raised for the UHWI paediatric ward.

In a statement yesterday, Dr. Dawes noted that the funds, which were raised in 2023, through the Sagicor Sigma Corporate Run, may have been diverted without consultation, with the facility’s paediatric department.

Dr. Dawes called on the UHWI administration, to provide a detailed public accounting of how the funds were used.

In a response statement last evening, Sagicor Foundation explained that in 2023, the event raised, ninety-one million eight hundred and fifty-two thousand five hundred dollars to support two causes, the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts and the UHWI’s Paediatric Unit.

Sagicor Foundation confirmed that in 2024, four hundred and ninety-five thousand USD, or seventy-nine million, two hundred thousand JMD was paid to an authorised Philips Distributor to acquire a CT scan machine, for the health facility.

According to the statement, the foundation has been advised, by the supplier that the machine was shipped last month and is slated to arrive in Jamaica next month.

The Sagicor Foundation says it is always transparent about the use of the funds raised and the full proceeds are shared amongst beneficiaries, in line with its governance framework.