KPH to be main beneficiary of Sigma Run 2022

Sagicor Foundation Jamaica, organisers of the annual Sagicor Sigma Corporate Run, has announced that the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) will be the main beneficiary of the 2022 charity road race to be held in February 2022.

Dr Natalie Whylie, senior medical officer at the KPH, said that she was "elated, excited and blown away". Whylie explained that even while the country continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital being the largest in the secondary healthcare delivery system in Jamaica has had to continue the delivery of services to Jamaicans both locally and in the diaspora.

"We have had to continue managing emergencies. We have had to continue managing in-patient and out-patient management of chronic non-communicable diseases which include cancer, so the needs are many and we are grateful to be considered for support," she said.

Executive Director of the Sagicor Foundation Alysia White noted that the KPH serves an average of 2,000 Jamaicans a day and is in dire need of life-saving equipment and supplies.

White also assured that unlike previous editions which saw an average of 25,000 people participating in New Kingston, the 2022 Sigma Run will provide different opportunities and ways for people to get involved and support the run.

Earlier this year, for the 22nd staging of the signature charity event, the Sigma Run Secretariat executed its first invitational run, which saw approximately 90 runners and wheelchair participants taking part in the event.

"We developed a successful framework to ensure we could execute a 'COVID safe' event and the team managed to host our very first invitational road race in New Kingston, along with having a number of official run sites that other participants could use to complete their virtual run," said White.

This year's run raised J$49 million for its beneficiaries, the Annotto Bay and Port Antonio hospitals, as well as a one-year programme to get the nation's children back on track with their education. White shared that a number of medical equipment have already been procured for the hospitals from the proceeds.