Chief Executive Officer of the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital in Westmoreland, Roan Grant, has welcomed a $200,000 donation from final-year students at the University of Technology (UTech), which will be used to assist with the rehabilitation of the hospital’s nursing quarters.
The cheque was presented to the hospital, by the UTech Finance and Banking Seminar 2025–2026 group, during a handover ceremony held at the facility on Friday (March 6).
Mr. Grant expressed gratitude for the contribution, describing the initiative as meaningful support for the hospital’s nursing staff.
He explained that the nursing quarters sustained damage during the passage of Hurricane Melissa, which affected several sections of the building.
“Because of the impact of the hurricane, the windows were damaged, the roof [also], and they need an electrical upgrade as well,” the CEO stated.
Mr. Grant pointed out that the donation will be combined with other resources already earmarked for repairs to the building.
The hospital head also underscored the importance of ensuring the welfare of nurses who continue to provide care, despite the challenges posed by the hurricane’s aftermath.
“Our nursing sector has given a lot and they have been impactful, and they have been impacted as well by the hurricane, and while they were impacted, they were still giving service, and we have to find a way to reach out to them as well and let them know that we have their interests at heart as well,” Mr. Grant said.
Meanwhile, the second vice president of the UTech Finance and Banking Seminar group, Kristina Johnson, said the donation forms part of the students’ commitment to community engagement and corporate social responsibility.
“As the future leaders in finance and business, we believe that we should be giving back to a community that supports us,” she said.
Ms. Johnson noted that Westmoreland was deliberately selected as the beneficiary parish due to the impact of the hurricane, and the connection that several members of the student group have with the area.
“Westmoreland was one of the parishes that was heavily affected by Hurricane Melissa, and…so, we wanted to ensure that we give back to Westmoreland, as well as impact the wider communities through our donations,” she explained.
Ms. Johnson added that several members of the group reside in the parish, which further strengthened the students desire to assist.
She also shared that the initiative is part of a broader academic programme undertaken by final-year finance students at the university.
“Our aim or end goal is to raise funds for our conference that’s coming up in April. So, what we do is we host different events so that we can raise funds. We also attend different networking events so that we can meet different speakers that we potentially want to speak at our conference in April,” Ms. Johnson stated.
She emphasised that community engagement formed an important component of the seminar.
“With any organisation, while the goal is to make money, we have to ensure that we’re giving back to our community because the community essentially supports us,” she said.
Ms. Johnson further indicated that the initiative could serve as a model for future student groups, as the seminar’s organisers have discussed encouraging successive cohorts to continue supporting charitable causes.
“What we spoke to our facilitators about is to have the students donate to the same organisations that we actually donated to, so that we can provide them with continual support and not just our year group,” she said.
The Finance and Banking Seminar course, which has been in existence for 15 years, is conducted over two semesters and provides final-year finance students with practical exposure to fundraising, networking and corporate engagement while preparing for their annual seminar conference.
