UWI launches Sir John Golding endowment fund to boost surgical care
Published:Saturday | December 17, 2022 | 1:30 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, is on a drive to raise US$3 million to start an endowment fund in honour of Professor Sir John Golding, with the hope of improving surgical healthcare across the nation, especially at the University Hospital of the West Indies.
A former orthopaedic surgeon, Golding was instrumental in efforts to contain the polio epidemic in Jamaica in the 1950s. He also made significant contributions to the improvement of care for the disabled and established the Hope Valley Experimental School, the Hospice Home Care, the Hospice Pain Care Centre, and the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre (formerly the Mona Rehabilitation Centre).
The endowment fund is the brainchild of Professor Joseph Plummer, head of the Department of Surgery, Radiology, Anaesthesia & Intensive Care in the Faculty of Medical Sciences.
Speaking at the launch of the Professor the Hon Sir John Golding Endowed Chair in Surgical Leadership and Education at the UWI on Thursday, Plummer noted that the need for specialist care in Jamaica has been increasing in recent years. He said that the fund would help in improving surgical education and in saving lives.
“It’s not just an idea whose time has come, … but also a catalyst, in my opinion, to improve healthcare in Jamaica. This year, 2022, marks the 50th anniversary of the start of postgraduate surgical training at The University of the West Indies,” Plummer said.
He gave further reasons for the dedication of the endowment fund in honour of Golding, whose philanthropy went beyond healthcare.
“Professor Golding spent his lifetime working at The University of the West Indies, Mona campus, as a surgeon, but he also was one of the founding fathers – and actually soon became president – of the Association of Surgeons in Jamaica, and demonstrated his scholarship in orthopaedics and rehabilitation,” he stated.
It is estimated that the fund will cost about US$3 million, but the UWI is now targeting US$1 million, which it will place in a restricted endowment fund. It is hoped that this will generate enough profits – at least J$5 million annually – for seed money to fund research, projects and workshops.
Plummer announced that Opposition Leader Mark Golding, who is the son of the late professor, has already given a commitment to provide 20 per cent of the funds.
“Donations of this manner would be necessary to lift our game at the university and in Jamaica,” Plummer said.
Significant moment for family
For his part, Mark Golding said it was a significant moment for his family in paying homage to a man who was a visionary and a dreamer in his own right.
“My father died in 1996 … . He’s very much still a central part of my life, even though he died well over 20 years ago. He was a rare individual, brilliant in many ways, and he was primarily a practical person,” said Golding, who is also president of the People’s National Party.
UWI, Mona Principal Professor Dale Webber highlighted the need for the private sector to invest in the endowment fund and to provide academic and industry partnerships.
“The Faculty of Medical Sciences is the flagship of The University of the West Indies. It is the flagship of the Mona campus. We started with 33 students back in 1948 … [and] our strategic plan has three parts to it: access, alignment and agility,” the principal said. “Establishing this chair – the Sir John Golding Endowed Chair in Surgical Leadership and Education – will achieve all three goals.”
Webber continued: “It will [provide] greater access, in terms of, students will have access to surgery and top-class teaching in surgery. We will also have access to the leadership of the surgery and the discipline, but we will also be raising funds to help the university to do what it needs to do, which is to teach research and outreach,” he said.