Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital recently got a new, vitally needed hemodialisys unit, thanks to the V.I. chapter of the Minority Organ and Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP), and a little help from St. Croix’s four Rotary Club chapters, according to a statement from the hospital.
Hemodialysis is a medical procedure that cleans impurities from the blood because the kidneys have lost their ability to properly do so. It is used to treat acute and chronic kidney failure, which is rapidly growing more and more common in the territory, often as a complication from diabetes. Juan Luis’ interim Chief Executive Officer Darice Plaskett said the machine was greatly appreciated and would help the lives of St. Croix’s dialysis patients.
In 2009, MOTTEP began trying to raise $25,000 to purchase a new machine for the hospital. Last August, with the help of the Touch of Love Corral, a Seventh Day Adventist charity on St. Croix, MOTTEP hosted the “Touch of Love” benefit dinner at the UVI’s St. Croix campus last August. When MOTTEP fell short of their goal by $8,000, the V.I. chapter’s founder Lillian Sutherland turned to the Rotary Club for help. With the help of Rotarian David Beck, St. Croix’s four Rotary chapters made up the difference and the machine was ordered in December.
"Being able to help people … I’m able to do only so much on my own," Beck said. "With Rotary I tap into a larger group.”
Rotary regularly raises money for causes within the community as part of its mission. And kidney disease touches the lives of many families in the territory, including those of several Rotarians, so the charitable groups were especially sympathetic, according to the hospital’s statement.
