A team of New Hanover Regional Medical Center employees spent a recent morning loading medical supplies on to a tractor trailer for shipment to Masindi, Uganda. The shipment is bound for a new hospital clinic built by Palmetto Medical Initiative (PMI) of Charleston, South Carolina. The new clinic is expected to provide sustainable health care to thousands of Ugandans who currently do not have access to quality care, but the newly built clinic had no medical supplies to allow the team to begin caring for their patients.
Emergency physician Dr. Ted Winneberger heard about their plight and knew NHRMC Mission Ready could help. After weeks of coordination, Winneberger led the team of employees who loaded approximately $108,000 worth of supplies and equipment, filling a 40-foot shipping container, paid for by Palmetto Medical Initiative. Supplies included beds, IV poles, dressing materials, defibrillators, splinting materials and more.
Dr. Winneberger is also working on gathering a shipment of supplies to go to Zimbabawe before the end of the year.
NHRMC Mission Ready is a program that allows the hospital to collect and inventory supplies that can't be used in the United States, because they have passed the manufacturer's expiration date or were part of a package that was opened, but never used. Clean and far superior to what's available in developing countries; these supplies would be thrown away here, but could save a life elsewhere.
For more information on NHRMC Mission Ready, visit www.nhrmc.org/missionready.