The JACDEN group of companies opened its new medical center last Friday with a bold promise from its president, Dennis Gordon: “If a patient comes here and after 15 minutes they are not treated by a doctor, he will benefit from the treatment free of charge. »

Gordon also announced that he had recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami to perform kidney transplants for patients, while adding Jamaica’s first-ever soma laboratory designed to analyze diseases and cells of the body.

“We do these things because we have been bold and we are doing things that will change lives. We want to save lives, we want to give people a second chance,” Gordon said, adding that the facility will also treat diabetic ulcers while becoming “a pioneer in the eradication of amputation.”

“What I did was look at the areas where the poor suffer the most and find a way to put them in the path of those who can afford to travel abroad. I just want to say this to demonstrate our dedication to the poor: anyone When you come here, once you are properly registered, you will not be turned away because of money,” he said.

The JACDEN Group of Companies, established in 2008, offers a wide variety of services ranging from concierge to project management and business services, as well as providing pharmaceutical and medical supplies to hospitals throughout Jamaica and the Caribbean.

The new facility, JACDEN Pharma and Medical Services, will prioritize affordable and effective healthcare services, particularly for low-income people in Jamaica.

According to Dr. Kurdell Espinosa Campbell, Chief Medical Officer of JACDEN Pharma and Medical Services, some of the major medical services that will be provided range from dialysis treatment to laparoscopic surgery. The entity will also partner with other medical establishments to achieve the best outcomes for all patients.

“Key services that will be included in this first phased opening are the 12-bed dialysis unit located next door. We have the chemotherapy and oncology combination, and that (area) will be the urgent care center when it’s fully operational,” she said.

“In the next phase, we will open the ophthalmology room where glaucoma surgery, retinopathies and cataracts which often lead to blindness in our population will be addressed as a key initiative, while a state-of-the-art operating room fully equipped classroom will also be open. will focus on laparoscopic surgeries so that we create an efficient system for surgical procedures here at JACDEN,” Dr Espinosa Campbell told guests at the soft launch of the JACDEN Enterprises medical facility on Lyndhurst Road in St Andrew.

She said the initiative stems from a partnership with Cuba that will see 12 Cuban healthcare professionals working at the medical facility to help provide high-quality care to patients.

“I am honored to collaborate with the highly qualified doctors and nurses of the Republic of Cuba. Together, we will build a platform to deliver new approaches to healthcare delivery here at JACDEN Pharma and Medical Services. It is imperative that we recognize the current global health crisis, which is not unique to Jamaica and the Caribbean. We must take an innovative approach to educate our community about lifestyle changes and provide recommendations that will benefit both the next generation of patients and physicians,” added Dr. Campbell Espinosa.

Gordon emphasized that he began working on establishing the medical facility in 2021 because he had always been driven by the desire to provide affordable care to low-income Jamaicans.

“When I started my journey as a diabetic and I went to my doctor to get a prescription and he wrote the prescription and it was for $40,000, I told him I could afford the $40,000, but what about those who can’t afford it? That, what are they going to do? And so I had an epiphany on the way home, and I stopped in the middle of the road and said, ‘Dennis, this is your calling, come to the rescue of your people who are in the lower strata of the economy and needs care. and I can’t afford it,” Gordon explained.

He admitted that he was not entirely sure of some of the things he had to do when he started building the facility and thanked the Cuban delegation for their help in building the medical facility in the “best possible way”.

“I just knew I wanted to build a medical facility, so I brought in a designer who did the initial design and we started building. We were lost, so we invited a delegation from Cuba to come and guide us and they would go back and forth through the drawings and make suggestions for adjustments.

“We probably tore down half the building to get it right, but I was confident I was going to do it the right way, and today I celebrate that it was done the right way,” said Gordon.

He said at the launch that in the future, more construction would be carried out to add more facilities and further diversify services.

“In a few weeks, the old building that started all of this will be demolished, and we’re going to move up two floors from the other building because we’re putting in a pathology lab and we’re also putting in MRI and CT scans, so a Once you come to JACDEN, you will have everything,” he announced.

Cuban Ambassador to Jamaica, Fermin Quiñones Sánchez, said his country’s contribution to the facility is another indication of the continuing partnership that has united Jamaica and Cuba over the years.

He said that while the Cubans will strive to provide high quality medical care at JACDEN, they will also have an important role to play in improving human resources by further training young and aspiring health professionals in Jamaica .

“I have no doubt that this will be a reference center in Jamaica and the Caribbean for the treatment of various non-communicable diseases that are affecting the health of the Jamaican people today,” the Ambassador said.