our healthcare priorities

Barbados Canada Foundation supports the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados (QEH), in addition to  selected healthcare initiatives that focus on children, cancer, diabetes and blood disorders such as Sickle Cell Anemia. 

After becoming aware of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital's need to replace and update major life-saving and other equipment, we obtained Canada Revenue Agency's approval to donate medical equipment and supplies to Barbados and in 2018 signed an agreement with the QEH to make annual donations to the hospital. The QEH is the sole primary acute care medical facility in Barbados.

BCF works with the QEH to identify the equipment needed and purchases this equipment directly from the hospital’s suppliers. To obtain the funds required to complete these purchases, we have established the Bring On The Spring Event as an annual fundraiser. First held in 2019 as a dinner featuring live entertainment and an auction with prizes that include accommodations at Barbados resort hotels, Bring On The Spring Event has been successfully held as a virtual event since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have donated medical equipment costing CAD$154,600 (BBD$228,700) to date.

We also support the SickKids-Caribbean Initiative's Paediatric Haematology/Oncology Nurse Training Program, to which we have donated CAD$65,000 to date. Launched in February 2013 by the SickKids Foundation, the SickKids-Caribbean Initiative is aimed at improving diagnoses and outcomes for children in the Caribbean affected by paediatric cancers and serious blood disorders. This initiative helps build health care capacity in Barbados, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and The Bahamas. For more information view the videos below.

Also benefitting from our charitable efforts is Camp Jumoke, a summer camp for children with sickle cell anemia. A Toronto-based registered charity in operation since 1994, Camp Jumoke 's mission is "to enrich the lives of children living with Sickle Cell Disease by providing them with a medically supervised summer camp and educational support."

Donate now and help us support these worthy causes.