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MEMO sending more to Cuba
By Chen Chekki - The
Chronicle-Journal, August 14, 2005.
Gary Cooper says he's amazed at how smart
Cubans are at setting up medical equipment,
relying on their brains rather than instruction
manuals.
But the Thunder Bay man said Saturday there's
one big problem with the health-care system
on the island nation.
"The equipment they are using dates
back to the 1950s and '60s," says Cooper,
who belongs to a Thunder Bay group that
last year brought millions of dollars worth
of medical supplies from closed city hospitals
to the communist state.
And the group, Medical Equipment Modernization
Opportunity (MEMO), is at it again this
week, marking its first anniversary by packing
some of the 300 used computers it received
from St. Joseph's Care group, Thunder Bay
Regional Health Sciences Centre and a local
citizen for shipment to Cuba.
The packing was done on Saturday by youth
from Nipigon's St. Mary's Church in a holding
area at the former McKellar hospital site.
Enough supplies for between three and five
ocean-going containers are stored there,
including more than 100 manually operated
hospital beds, operating room tables, and
freezers and refrigerators donated by the
public.
"They're in perfectly good condition,"
Cooper says.
It will all be shipped to Cuba in one big
batch later this year or next year, Cooper
says, helping to continue what has already
been a successful donation project.
Last week, 33 medical defibrillators from
Superior North Emergency Medical Services
and Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue Service
were sent by MEMO to Cuba courtesy of Cuban
Airlines.
As the exclusive agent for Thunder Bay
Regional Health Sciences Centre to get rid
of older medical equipment, MEMO last year
received enough reusable medical supplies
to fill 11 ocean freight containers that
were destined for Cuba.
MEMO also received enough supplies from
the hospital to fill eight containers that
were sent to the Philippines, including
a nuclear medicine scanner, sterilizers
and a long list of other equipment. It was
sent to a government-run hospital in Cebu
City, located in central Philippines.
The current stockpile of equipment being
held by MEMO is needed more in Cuba than
the Philippines, Cooper says.
Cuba's poor economy might be to blame for
it being many years behind the medical standards
of Canada, he says, but it's no reflection
of the intellect of Cubans.
Cooper has witnessed first-hand how they
can successfully hook up an x-ray machine,
for example, without the use of a manual.
"The Cuban people are extremely intelligent
people," Cooper says.
His group hopes to have the Cuban ambassador
to Canada visit Thunder Bay for a MEMO fundraiser
in October, as well as a doctor from Cuba.
Francisco Benedicto, Philippines ambassador
to Canada, attended a MEMO fundraiser in
April.
Copyright © 2004 The
Chronicle-Journal
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