SVF donates $2.1m to support heart surgery for children

For many Jamaican families, the cost of heart surgery can place life-saving treatment beyond reach. Supreme Ventures Foundation (SVF) is seeking to ease that burden through a donation of $2.1 million to Chain of Hope Jamaica, the region’s first dedicated paediatric cardiac centre.

The facility, located on the grounds of the Bustamante Hospital for Children, provides specialised cardiac care for children across Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.

“No child’s chance at life should depend on their family’s ability to pay,” said Heather Goldson, executive director of Supreme Ventures Foundation. “Through this donation, we are proud to partner with Chain of Hope Jamaica to mend little hearts across Jamaica and to give hope to families who otherwise do not have the means to access this critical treatment.”

Diane Edwards, board chair of Chain of Hope Jamaica, welcomed the contribution, describing it as one of the organisation’s most significant recent donations.

“We are overjoyed and deeply grateful to the Supreme Ventures Foundation. This is an important donation to us, and one of the biggest we’ve received in recent times. It will save children’s lives by helping to cover the attendant costs of the surgical interventions being done by our team here.”

Chain of Hope Jamaica’s facility at the Bustamante Hospital for Children includes a 10-bed intensive care unit, an operating theatre and a catheterisation laboratory.

Since 2007, the organisation has treated more than 1,300 children and carried out over 670 free cardiac procedures. It works with local and international partners to build sustainable cardiac-care services in Jamaica and across the Caribbean.

Dr Sherard Little, thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon at the centre, said the donation would help strengthen the team’s capacity to provide treatment.

“The equipment required for this kind of surgery is extremely expensive, so this contribution will go a long way toward acquiring the tools we need to effectively do what we do here at Chain of Hope,” he said. “When we operate on these children, we change not only their lives but their families’ lives too. The work our team does here helps so many children with cardiac disease go on to live fruitful and productive lives.”

Through its foundation, Supreme Ventures Limited has invested in programmes aimed at strengthening healthcare services and expanding access to critical treatment for vulnerable children and families across the island.