For Release February 12 Contact: Holly Frew Phone: 770.323.5858
$150,000 in grants from kaiser permanente to
medshare supports Access to healthcare for the underserved
Kaiser Permanente supports local nonprofit organization that impacts the environment, as well as community-based and global healthcare
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. - Kaiser Permanente Northern California Community Benefit recently awarded a $100,000 grant, with their national office also awarding $50,000 grant, for a combined $150,000 to MedShare, a nonprofit organization that has an innovative medical supply recovery distribution center in Northern California.
“This partnership with Kaiser Permanente will help us grow in our efforts to divert surplus medical supplies from landfills and place them into the hands of underserved people throughout Northern California and all over the world who desperately need them,” said Chuck Haupt, Executive Director of MedShare’s Western Region.
“Kaiser Permanente is pleased to help MedShare expand its operations of their newly-opened West coast distribution center. We look forward to MedShare being able to provide expertise, supplies, and equipment to communities in need in Northern California, in addition to their international work,” said Jean Nudelman, Director of Community Benefit Programs for Kaiser Permanente Northern California.
In addition to the grant, Kaiser Permanente was MedShare’s first partner in Northern California to join the surplus medical product recovery program. Kaiser Permanente already has donated hundreds of boxes of product providing a socially responsible way for them to discard unused, unexpired surplus medical supplies. MedShare has also received supplies and equipment donations from various hospitals in the Bay Area and Sacramento.
According to Health Care Without Harm, an international coalition of healthcare providers, U.S. hospitals discard more than 2 million tons of medical materials annually. MedShare,
headquartered in Atlanta, GA, recently opened a new facility in the East Bay to expand its mission of bridging the gap between surplus and need to improve both healthcare and the environment. MedShare collects unused, unexpired surplus medical material from hospitals and medical supply distributors and ships them to healthcare facilities in economically developing countries around the world, as well as to health clinics located in Northern California.
About MedShare International
MedShare International is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to collecting and redistributing surplus medical supplies and equipment to healthcare institutions in economically developing countries.Since MedShare’s inception in 1998, the organization has retrieved more than $60 million in surplus medical supplies and equipment from U.S. donors and shipped over 450 forty-foot medical aid containers to healthcare facilities all over the world. For more information, please visit the organization’s website at www.medshare.org.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health plan. Founded in 1945, the program is headquartered in Oakland, Calif. Kaiser Permanente serves 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Today it encompasses Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the Permanente Medical Groups. Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente includes approximately 164,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees and caregivers, and 14,000 physicians representing all specialties. The organization's Labor Management Partnership is the largest such health care partnership in the United States. It governs how more than 130,000 workers, managers, physicians and dentists work together to make Kaiser Permanente the best place to receive care, and the best place to work. In 2007, Kaiser Permanente proudly directed $1 billion to support community benefit programs and services through research, community-based health partnerships, and direct health coverage for low-income families and collaboration with community clinics, health departments and public hospitals.
Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health plan. Founded in 1945, the program is headquartered in Oakland, Calif. Kaiser Permanente serves 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Today it encompasses Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the Permanente Medical Groups. Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente includes approximately 164,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees and caregivers, and 14,000 physicians representing all specialties. The organization's Labor Management Partnership is the largest such health care partnership in the United States. It governs how more than 130,000 workers, managers, physicians and dentists work together to make Kaiser Permanente the best place to receive care, and the best place to work. In 2007, Kaiser Permanente proudly directed $1 billion to support community benefit programs and services through research, community-based health partnerships, and direct health coverage for low-income families and collaboration with community clinics, health departments and public hospitals.
