THUNDER BAY - With nation-wide shortages of personal protective equipment for frontline healthcare workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic, students and researchers at Lakehead University have been searching stockrooms and putting out calls on social media to help local doctors and nurses.
Lakehead Univeristy and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine have collected hundreds of boxes of PPEs for healthcare workers in Northern Ontario and Orilla.
The collection began after researchers reached out to Anne Klymenko, director of the office of research services, about where PPEs could be dropped off for donation.
“We were able to collect over 820 N95 masks that are in extremely short supply right now and essential to the safety of frontline healthcare workers and clinicians,” Klymenko said. “We also received more than 1,750 surgical, procedural masks and disposable face shields, 325 disposable gowns, and sanitizer. All this was collected on short notice on March 27 and March 30.”
Klymenko coordinated the collection of PPEs and was in contact with Phillip Thompson, Regional Manager, Distribution and Data Management, Procurement Department at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, St. Joseph’s Hospital and the Northern Supply Chain.
A call was put out to researchers and laboratories at both Lakehead campuses and NOSM. Donations were received from departments across the university, including the Faculty of Natural Resources Management, Faculty of Science and Environmental Studies, and the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences.
The items collected will be donated to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Care Group and the Northern Supply Chain will ensure the equipment will be distributed to acute-care hospitals and long-term care homes.
“Supplies are vital to our Hospital's response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Stewart Kennedy, Incident Manager for Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre's COVID-19 response.
“We are very grateful to our partners at Lakehead University and NOSM for coming together and collecting donations. Their efforts will save lives and allow our health care professionals to focus on providing safe, quality care.”
Students with NOSM have also launched the social media campaign, Northern Ontario PPE for HCP using the hashtag #PPEforHCPs.
The initiative was started after the Ontario Medical Students Association and the Ontario Medical Association put a call out to local businesses encouraging them to donate any materials they have available.
“The #PPEforHCPs is rising to the challenge of sourcing personal protective equipment from over 28 communities and counting,” said Alannah MacLean, a second-year NOSM medical student in Thunder Bay. “The objective is to divert existing PPE within a community to the institutions (i.e. hospitals and clinics) that currently need it most.”
The NOSM student campaign has been collecting equipment from a variety of businesses and it faces more challenges as it covers such a wide geographical area and there are numerous healthcare agencies in need of help.
“In Thunder Bay, Magnus Theatre, Superior Nails, an anonymous dental clinic, TBT Engineering, and Hamm Home Rehab have all contributed to our PPE campaign,” MacLean said.
“As part of our fundraising campaign to support manufacturing and operating costs for PPE production, we received a $1,000 donation from Domtar Corporation in Dryden. Domtar also donated an additional $4,000 directly to the hospitals in Thunder Bay, Sioux Lookout, Dryden, and Red Lake.”
Dr. Sarita Verma, NOSM’s Dean, President and CEO, commends the hard work and dedication of the students during these difficult times.
“The hard work and advocacy I’m witnessing from our medical students is creating such terrific momentum,” Verma said. “I’m inspired by their initiative and social responsibility and proud of how they are stepping up to support their colleagues on the frontlines.”
Any businesses or individuals in Northern Ontario interested in making a financial contribution or donating PPE can contact NOSM students using [email protected].
