ATLANTA, Georgia (August 9, 2018). – MedShare, an Atlanta-based humanitarian aid organization dedicated to global health, and athenahealth, a leading provider of network-enabled services for hospital and ambulatory customers nationwide, created 1,126 Clean Birthing Kits to provide women with quality care at birth. Each kit protects a mother and her child with essential supplies to prevent infection and reduce health risks during childbirth. Nearly 200 Atlanta-based athenahealth employees participated. The kits they created will be delivered to communities in Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and other medically underserved countries.
This is the second year in a row that MedShare and athenahealth have teamed up to support women and children in low-resource communities. In 2017, athenahealth, in celebration of its twentieth anniversary, participated in MedShare’s 2 Million Mothers campaign. Since then, MedShare has delivered more than 9,000 Clean Birthing Kits to communities in 34 countries. Tsering Wangmo, Chief Nurse and Medical Director of Nomads Clinic in rural Dolpo, Nepal, received Clean Birthing Kits created by volunteers. She shared her gratitude, saying, “We are so grateful to MedShare for helping us to bring this beautiful gift to the pregnant women of Dolpo and allowing us to help them make every delivery safer, beautiful, and easier.”
“At athenahealth, we’ve always been focused on removing friction from healthcare, allowing our providers to focus on delivering quality care,” said Jamie Mercurio, head of corporate responsibility at athenahealth. “As we work to transform healthcare, these kits align perfectly with that vision. Our employees were honored to partner with MedShare for the second year in a row to support mothers and providers around the world.”
MedShare CEO and President, Charles Redding, added, “We’re proud to partner with corporate leaders like athenahealth that make it a priority to give back to their communities, both locally and globally. Their ongoing support of 2 Million Mothers speaks volumes about their commitment to quality healthcare for all. On behalf of the women and children these kits will serve, we thank you!”
MedShare’s 2 Million Mothers campaign is an initiative of the organization’s Maternal & Child Health Program. The initiative aims to reduce the infant and maternal mortality rates in developing nations through improved medical intervention and better pre and post-natal care for women in low-resource communities. Other organizations are invited to host Clean Birthing Kit events with their employees. Contact donate@medshare.org for more information.
About MedShare
MedShare is a 501c(3) humanitarian aid organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of people, communities, and our planet by sourcing and directly delivering surplus medical supplies and equipment to communities in need around the world. And this year, MedShare is celebrating 20 years of impacting its local and global communities. For more information, please visit the organization’s website at http://www.medshare.org/.
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