FirstCaribbean donates 2
CTG machines to SMMC
PHILIPSBURG--As further demonstration of its commitment to give back to the community of St. Maarten, FirstCaribbean International Bank made a donation to St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) of two CTG cardiotomography machines.
These machines register digitally the heart tones of an unborn baby. The presentation was made in the presence of St. Maarten Medical Center director Dr. Scott and staff of the SMMC who demonstrated on a volunteer patient how the machine functions.
Dr. Scott thanked the bank on behalf of the management and staff of SMMC for the donation. Scott explained that the medical center is in the process of digitalizing all its diagnostic equipments in order to work more efficiently, raising the quality in care.
Scott explained that with the aid of the donated CTG Cardio Tomography machines, the recording of an unborn baby’s heart tone, which could not be done before, can now be made available to the patient, while using an analogue machine. Additionally, the recording can be sent to a specialist if discrepancies occur in the heart tones. One machine will be used for single pregnancies and the other for twin pregnancies.
Credit and Services Quality Manager and Country Head Derek Downes explained that the donation was a part of the bank’s celebration of its fifth anniversary this year and it continues to mark the occasion by expressing thanks to the many communities that are the bedrock of its business activities across its 17 jurisdictions.
FirstCaribbean signalled its intention to become a vibrant community player when, during the first year of its founding, it committed one per cent of its prior year post tax profits solely for community activities throughout its now 17-country network.
In 2005, FirstCaribbean changed its policy and now provides one per cent prior year pre-tax profits for community work. To ensure that these communities would benefit from its benevolence, the bank established the Comtrust Foundation. The Comtrust Foundation is currently chaired by Sharon Brown, Managing Director of the bank’s operations in the Bahamas, who is among a nine-member Board of Trustees constituting representatives of the bank’s board of directors and the bank’s senior management.
