Issa Trust Foundation & Couples Resorts

Announces Formation of Their Fourth Medical Mission September 2008

SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED

Leaders with the Issa Trust Foundation announced today that volunteers from two U.S. children’s hospitals will join the Foundation’s efforts to improve the health of children in Jamaica this fall.

A team of doctors and nurses from University of Iowa Children’s Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa, will provide a series of free medical clinics targeting underprivileged children in the Ocho Rios area of Jamaica September 8-13, 2008.

University of Iowa Children's Hospital serves children and their families at its main campus in Iowa City and satellite clinics in communities throughout Iowa. A 190-bed "hospital within a hospital," UI Children's Hospital benefits from the sophisticated services and comprehensive resources of UI Hospitals and Clinics. Child magazine ranks UI Children's Hospital among the top 20 children's hospitals in the nation.

In addition, health professionals from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) will offer similar clinics in the Negril area of Jamaica September 16-20.

Since opening its doors as the nation's first hospital devoted exclusively to the care of children, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has been the setting for medical discoveries, innovations and breakthroughs that have benefited children throughout the world. Today, Children's Hospital is ranked among the leading pediatric hospitals and research facilities in the world, with a steadfast commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare providers and pioneering major research initiatives.

The Issa Trust Foundation has conducted annual medical missions since 2005. The organization plans to continue collaborating with clinics and local organizations in Jamaica to identify health needs, set health priorities for their community and facilitate collaborative strategies to make parishes in Jamaica a healthy place to live. The Foundation encourages healthy life styles and behavior changes.

Previous missions focused on children in the Ocho Rios area, but in 2007 the group’s initiatives grew when it conducted two missions, and added a week of service in Negril. In addition, doctors from the U.S. are eager to share their knowledge with other doctors and learn from each other. The foundation’s missions create, like many other international missions, an integrated cross-cultural medical team.

Issa Trust Foundation serves children from birth to 18 years old. Child development specialists recognize that children are constantly learning, right from birth. Their early years are the foundation for growth and development, and what they learn during those years depends on the experiences they have each and every day.

Couples Resort
Issa Trust Foundation Pediatric Medical Mission
2008 Jamaica Medical Mission
9:00 to 5:00 p.m.