Jamaicans.Biz

In January 2010, we featured Dr. Fitzroy Hamilton, a medical doctor making a difference in the parish of St. Mary. Below we’ve featured an update (via a North East Regional Health Authority (NERHA) press release) on Dr. Hamilton.

NERHA PRESS RELEASE:

Junior Resident, Dr. Fitzroy Hamilton of Annotto Bay Hospital has been the recipient of not one, but two Governor General Awards

Dr. Fitzroy Hamilton was first featured in the newspaper last year January with a sub-caption, “Buju Banton lookalike making strides in Annotto Bay”. He is thought of as a more handsome version of Buju Banton; nonetheless, this funny misnomer has stuck with him since high school at Kingston College.

Dr. Hamilton joined Annotto Bay Hospital August 2009 as a Medical Officer. His story began in Seaview Gardens, where he was no stranger to violence and the emotional and psychological impact it causes. From there, through sheer determination, diligence and perseverance he applied for and earned a scholarship to study in Cuba. In 2006, Dr. Hamilton graduated, with honours from the Medical Sciences University of Gramna, eastern Cuba, and was twice named Jamaican Student of the Year.

He was offered a post-graduate scholarship in Cuba to study in any specialty, but chose to return home instead. He has been quoted, saying that he has been enjoying his time at Annotto Bay Hospital, working with a warm, friendly and professional staff.

In September 2010, Dr. Hamilton was presented with the Governor General Youth Award for excellence in the category of Young Adult for the parish of Kingston. The following month he was recognized at the “Pinning Ceremony” at Kings House as the National Honouree for the County of Surrey where he was presented with his honourary pin.

Most recently, he was instrumental in the triage of the 22 crash victims from Brandon Hill who were routed to Annotto Bay Hospital. He was personally congratulated, along with the entire hospital team, by the Hon. Dr. Kenneth Baugh, who had visited the hospital on the evening of the crash, on their professionalism and expertise with which they treated the victims.

Seaview Gardens claims him as their own, but Annotto Bay Hospital is his home away from home and they are so very proud of him. On Sunday January 9th, Dr. Fitzroy Hamilton will be featured on Ian Boyne’s Profile for Part 2 of his interview from Sunday January 2nd.

From his days in short pants at primary school in Carron Hall in Western St. Mary, Gary Allen knew he wanted to be a broadcaster, and more so, at RJR. “I used to tell everyone who would listen that I was going to work at RJR. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy and here I am, living my dream”, says Mr. Allen, who in 2008 became the second Managing Director of the RJR Group, following the footsteps of his mentor J.A. Lester Spaulding.

It appears Gary was destined to follow in Mr. Spaulding’s footsteps, as except for three years of his working life, Lester Spaulding has always been his boss – first at RJR, then at the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU), the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), and then again at RJR.

“I have always maintained a very good working relationship with the Chairman. We share a mutural respect and I owe great deal of my success in broadcasting to him because he is a very good teacher. Both of us share a passion for RJR in particular and for broadcasting in general”.

If anyone knows the challenges faced by the RJR Communications Group in the competitive media landscape, it is Group that faced tough economic times in 2008, in the early period of the global economic.

However, because of his grooming at the CBU and the CMC, Gary was primed to take the tough decisions. While working to take the tough decisions. While working in the Caribbean, he was a pioneer on many fronts. He was the Project Manager for the first live television coverage of the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada, among many other accolades.

Allen is a unique character in that he began as a journalist back in 1987 (a freelance reporter at the Gleaner) and later became the boss of Jamaica’s largest media entity, thus giving him perspicacious insight into the dynamics and practices of a media operation, not to mention a certain empathy with those that drive the business.

Allen’s path to success has been likened to that of Jeff Immelt who succeeded the great Jack Welch at the American powerhouse General Electric (GE), leaving his own mark on a corporate leviathan. Allen too is carving his image into his company and may have already displaced the shadow cast by Spaulding.

The Gary Allen story is not complete, and undoubtedly there’s still a lot to be told. Listen out for more from him and the media conglomerate – RJR – that he guides.