CMSI co-founder Billie Reese West with a Jamaican patient.
In 2001 VCU Jazz became aware of the work of Ms. Billie Reese West. who happened to live a block from VCU Music. She and Charles E. Bagwell, M.D., professor and chair of VCU's Division of Pediatric Surgery, had in 1993 co-founded Children's Medical Services International, a non-profit to promote children's healthcare in Jamaica by providing volunteers and the donation of medical goods, including ventilators for newborn and surgical and dental equipment. Bagwell served as vice president. In 2007, at a time when the organization was struggling financially, VCU Jazz presented the benefit concert "A Night at the Singleton," organized by VCU Jazz Director Antonio García, featuring performances by a range of artists including the Shiny Stockings Trio, the Lindsay Family Brass/Jazz Quintet, and members of the VCU Symphony Orchestra directed by VCU Prof. Jean Montés. The funds raised assisted in keeping the organization afloat for the future. By the time Ms. West passed in 2013, CMSI had contributed millions of dollars' worth of medical supplies and equipment to Jamaica's Cornwall Regional Hospital and the Westhaven Children's Home. CMSI continues its work after her passing, including facilitating in coordination with United States Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of Defense the 2017 donation of an additional $12 million in medical supplies to the Cornwall Regional Hospital.
