Mobile clinic gifted by California charity rolls out in W’land

A mobile clinic donated by California-based international humanitarian charity organisation, Direct Relief, has been deployed by Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton in Westmoreland to aid Darliston and surrounding communities.

The bus, marked Bossman Men’s Health, was used at the Big Woods Church last Friday, bringing much needed medical services to the scores of residents who turned out during the day.

“The mobile health clinic is very critical because we are bringing the services to the community and they need it now more than ever, where health centres have been damaged and some areas don’t have the facilities,” Tufton noted.

The donation of the mobile clinic forms part of a massive shipment of 68 tons of medical aid, valued US$1 million ($160 million), to Jamaica in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, representing one of the largest humanitarian responses to the country’s needs.

The 77-year-old organisation was named Time Magazine’s TIME 2025 Dreamer of the Year earlier this month, in recognition of the organisation’s response and sustained recovery efforts following the Los Angeles wildfires.

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The award, presented in collaboration with American Family Insurance, honours individuals and organizations “who protect, restore, and champion their communities in the face of adversity.”

Vice president of Operations at Direct Relief, Genevieve Bitter, who was present, also donated an emergency medical backpack to the clinic.

“Direct Relief is a medical aid organisation and we do emergency preparedness and response and we support health systems strengthening all over the world,” she noted.

Bitter said the mobile health clinic was donated by Direct Relief to conduct wellness exams and distribute medication.

A doctor and a nurse from the Darliston Health Clinic were present at the church and helped in screening patients, while the mobile health clinic provided a pharmacist and medicine to fill prescriptions.