Warehouse holds hope for hospitals in need
Nov 20, 2012, 7:00 AM | Updated: 7:01 am
PHOENIX — Thousands of dollars in surplus and overstock medical supplies sit in a Tempe warehouse, waiting for shipment around the world.
It’s the everyday collection for Project C.U.R.E., a nonprofit that gathers products and machines from Valley hospitals and clinics which would have been thrown out due to their retirement, replacement or re-order.
“Last fiscal year, we took in 3.65 million pounds of usable medical surplus,” said executive director Melissa Gable. “That’s stuff that would have been thrown away or placed in a landfill.”
Shipments to hospitals in places such as Uganda and Panama are sent based on need and site visits by Project officials. They determine what needs to be shipped in the semi-truck-sized containers, such as specialized MRI machines and hospital beds.
“And then the basics we take for granted here, such as gauze and disposable gloves,” said Gable. “In a lot of countries they are actually reusing those types of things.”
It costs $20,000 to ship each container. Volunteers are needed to sort the donations.
