Smart living donates furniture to MoH |16 December 2017

Family members can now stay in comfort while visiting hospitalised children at the Seychelles Hospital after the paediatric ward received a donation of new furniture.

Worth R34,000, the two sofa beds and two single-seater recliner chairs are from a small family business, Danube Home by Smart Living located in the centre of Providence.

The owners of the enterprise, sisters Margaret and Maureen Victorine, made this contribution to the Ministry of Health in remembrance of their late brother’s fight against cancer.

Margaret handed over the furniture to the Minister for Health, Jean-Paul Adam, in the presence of the chief executive of the Health Care Agency (HCA) Dr Danny Louange, other members of the health department.

The handover ceremony took place yesterday at the Red Roof building.

In the past few years, more than 2000 children have been admitted on the ward yearly. In 2015 and 2016 respectively there have been 2094 and 2238 admissions. Children are often accompanied by their parents or guardians who spend the night with them. These two pairs of furniture will add to the parents’ comfort during their admission.

Following this donation, HCA hopes to generate a continued partnership with Danube Home by Smart Living to continue improving care and comfort in health facilities.

Minister Adam expressed his heartfelt gratitude for this donation and recognised that when patients are sick they need support which is not only medicine and treatment.

“It is also the support of family and we see this everyday in the hospital where family come together to support sick relatives and it is a key part of recovery,” he said.

He said that while these equipment are not the most sophisticated equipment, it is part of offering a better service to patients and bringing families together.

Margaret said they value their customers and consider them as family.

“Having lost our brother to cancer at the beginning of this year, we are humbled to be able to give back to the Ministry of Health. This is our recognition to all the nurses and doctors who in their own way guided us during this hard time,” said Margaret.

She also quoted Anne Frank: “No one has ever become poor by giving.”