(Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, Thursday, July 22nd, 2021): The Turks and Caicos Islands Hospital recently donated several pieces of medical equipment to the nursing program at the TCI Community College for simulation and teaching purposes. The hospital is currently mobilizing the equipment for shipment from Providenciales to the college campus in Grand Turk, where the nursing program is based.

During the handover press conference, remarks were delivered by Mikette Been, Chief of Clinical Services at TCI Hospital, Dr. Denise Braithwaite-Tennant, Chief Executive Officer at TCI Hospital, Dr. Dawn Perry-Ewing, Chief of Medical Services at TCI Hospital and George Mushunje, Lead Biomedical Engineer at TCI Hospital. Representatives from the TCI Community College included Samuel Forbes, Vice President, and Dondra Blackman-Boyce, Chair of the Faculty for Natural and Applied Sciences.

The medical equipment donated were two blood pressure monitors, a Mindray Datascope Passport V monitor. The latter device can monitor vital sign parameters such as electrocardiogram, respiration rate, oxygen saturation, non-invasive blood pressure, and body temperature. A defibrillator, an intravenous pole, and a stretcher bed commonly used in areas such as Emergency Departments were also among the donated items.

The Biomedical Engineering department oversees the hospital’s medical equipment, planned preventative maintenance, and lifecycle management. The team combined different modules from different machines that have reached the end of their lifecycle in the hospital setting to create an operational device that meets the standards appropriate for teaching and training purposes. The vital signs and features are accurate and functioning on the rebuilt models. Commenting on the donation, Chief of Clinical Services at TCI Hospital, Mikette Been, stated:” It gives us great pleasure to present this well needed equipment to the Turks and Caicos Islands Community College Nursing Program. The COVID-19 pandemic presents ever increasing challenges as there is a high demand for nurses, and nurses are migrating to first world countries. Due to this increasing trend, as a country we need to build local capacity and be more resilient. I would like to encourage our students graduating from high school to choose a career in Nursing.

Commenting on the program, Samuel Forbes, Vice President of the TCI Community College, stated: “We have been in existence for over 25 years, and we are growing as a national institution. We realize the importance of holistic training of our candidates and the important role that we play in preparing candidates for the private sector, and the hospital is no exception. Over the years, we have been working to establish a relationship with the hospital to enhance our nursing program and other programs. This is an exciting day for us as we have finally reached the point where there is something solid that we can boast. The equipment may have reached its lifespan at the hospital, but today it is just a transition from the hospital into another lifespan at our college.”