Donating money (COVID-19)

[Giovanotto]

Specifically in healthcare, where is most money needed right now? I'm not in the trenches, and have been out of rotations for over a month. I have some acquaintances interested in donating. Any suggestions? My understanding is that many hospitals are short on PPE, but that seems to be more of a supply vs. demand problem rather than funding, no?

Edit: bolded for emphasis.

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[gutonc]

Specifically in healthcare, where is most money needed right now? I'm not in the trenches, and have been out of rotations for over a month. I have some acquaintances interested in donating. Any suggestions? My understanding is that many hospitals are short on PPE, but that seems to be more of a supply vs. demand problem rather than funding, no?

If there was PPE to be purchased, I assure you it would be paid for. Money's not the issue.

If your friends can maybe fund the building of an N95 mask factory in NYC or Detroit, that would be super helpful.

 

[smq123]

Specifically in healthcare, where is most money needed right now? I'm not in the trenches, and have been out of rotations for over a month. I have some acquaintances interested in donating. Any suggestions? My understanding is that many hospitals are short on PPE, but that seems to be more of a supply vs. demand problem rather than funding, no?

Agree with gutonc; the cost of the PPE is not the problem, the problem is that there is just no PPE to buy right now.

If your friends are interested in donating money (like, have the money burning a hole in their pocket), I would suggest donating it to restaurant workers who found themselves out of a job literally overnight. Or else use the money to buy takeout or delivery from local restaurants, to help keep them going. Those restaurant workers are the ones who are going to show up in our urgent cares and EDs four months from now, when they ran out of insulin and couldn't afford to buy any more.

 

[ThoracicGuy]

Agree with gutonc; the cost of the PPE is not the problem, the problem is that there is just no PPE to buy right now.

If your friends are interested in donating money (like, have the money burning a hole in their pocket), I would suggest donating it to restaurant workers who found themselves out of a job literally overnight. Or else use the money to buy takeout or delivery from local restaurants, to help keep them going. Those restaurant workers are the ones who are going to show up in our urgent cares and EDs four months from now, when they ran out of insulin and couldn't afford to buy any more.

Or if they want to spend more, order a takeout or delivery meal to one of the hospital floors for the workers there to be able to eat.

 

[RTC19]

Another option is a local food pantry. Our food pantry has seen demand for their services explode overnight.

 

[Smurfette]

Agree with pantries and local shelters. If your community has set up special housing centers for people who have to stay isolated and can't go home like mine has, they may appreciate some donations as well.

Another thought is to see if local hospitals are looking for tablet donations so patients can skype with family members since visitor access is so restricted.

 

[Dral]

Yes food banks and food pantries. They are stretched to the limit.

I set up a donation for my department. We have a bunch of boxes in our breakroom that people are filling up with non-perishable food items, which I'll eventually take to our local food bank.

It's great to want to help our colleagues directly, but helping them indirectly by helping to keep the community healthy is just as noble.

 

[Dral]

Another thought is to see if local hospitals are looking for tablet donations so patients can skype with family members since visitor access is so restricted.

These can also be implemented to do telemedicine visits.

 

[smq123]

Specifically in healthcare, where is most money needed right now? I'm not in the trenches, and have been out of rotations for over a month. I have some acquaintances interested in donating. Any suggestions? My understanding is that many hospitals are short on PPE, but that seems to be more of a supply vs. demand problem rather than funding, no?

Edit: bolded for emphasis.

I see that you changed your post, but, honestly, there isn't much need for money in healthcare at this time. Like those of us who ARE "in the trenches" pointed out, the place where your money can really make a difference would be helping people in other sectors.

Plus, helping to keep your community healthy IS an important part of healthcare.

 

[Ironheme]

Buying healthcare workers food is always nice, though check with the hospital as some won't accept it.

 

[dpmd]

Specifically in healthcare, where is most money needed right now? I'm not in the trenches, and have been out of rotations for over a month. I have some acquaintances interested in donating. Any suggestions? My understanding is that many hospitals are short on PPE, but that seems to be more of a supply vs. demand problem rather than funding, no?

Edit: bolded for emphasis.

If you specifically want funds going toward healthcare then I would guess doctors without borders or something similar would be the way to go. An alternative would be something like Team Rubicon where medical response is a portion of what they are doing for covid (in addition to support of food distribution, sheltering operations, and emergency management).

 

[mvenus929]

Depending on your means and situation, donating to an employee relief fund (some are on suspension if they need to quarantine and don't get paid during this time, or have a family member who was laid off and can't afford bills right now despite them working like crazy), a respite room for hospital workers, or something similar would be useful and welcomed in some institutions. Most places have a philanthropic division that you can call and ask where you can direct your funds to.