Partners for World Health medical supplies drive

Sharing abundance for greater impact. This is the idea behind a medical supplies collection drive in June coordinated by the interprofessional Center for Experiential Learning and Simulation (iCELS) and the Office of Sustainability.

Almost any unused surplus clinical or patient care item will be accepted. All the materials will be donated to Partners for World Health, a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Maine, that works to reclaim unused medical supplies and distribute them to health care providers serving people around the world.

“As an organization, we are pushing for sustainability these days, and part of that is, if we have overstock of something, let’s get it to some place where it can be of use,” said James Porter, a member of the iCELS administrative support team.

Look for the collection bin on the third floor of the Albert Sherman Center near the pillars at the top of the grand staircase. A full list of acceptable items is here.

Partners for World Health also shares this list of unacceptable items to help guide donors.

The collection program not only helps people in need, but also reduces the amount of waste in landfills or that gets incinerated. The drive runs through July 3.  And if it goes well, Porter hopes to continue the effort.

“We will have a new class coming in August and our medical school students will get a pack of different tools and materials that they may not use or may want to upgrade, so the perfect thing is to donate those items and we’ll get them to people who will definitely use them,” he said.

Kortni Wroten, sustainability and energy manager at UMass Chan, worked with Porter to set up the donation program. T.H. Chan School of Medicine student Kyle Timmer is coordinating the effort among students, who have already filled two bins with donations, Porter said.