Heritage College, and other OHIO colleges, donate protective gear to hospitals

With the COVID-19 outbreak putting increased strain on health care systems around the world, physicians, nurses and other frontline providers are facing shortages of protective gear such as disposable masks, gloves and gowns. In the Ohio communities that are home to the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine’s three campuses in Athens, Dublin and Cleveland, the college has stepped up to help fill this growing need for personal protective equipment (PPE).

“As our state, and the whole world, struggles to cope with a pandemic unprecedented in our lifetimes, we all need to be thinking about ways we can contribute to that effort,” said Ken Johnson, D.O., Heritage College executive dean and Ohio University chief medical affairs officer. “I’m glad that our college and other units at Ohio University have been able to provide equipment needed to protect the brave health care professionals who are working on the front lines of this public health emergency.”

All three Heritage College campuses have donated PPEs to local hospitals, along with OHIO’s College of Fine Arts and Russ College of Engineering and Technology, both of which donated N95 masks. Receiving the protective gear were OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital in Athens, OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital in Dublin, and Cleveland Clinic South Pointe Hospital in Warrensville Heights, within whose campus the Heritage College, Cleveland, is housed.

Collectively, the three sites have provided to date around 30,000 gloves, around 1,000 masks, and multiple cases of gowns, as well as items such as shoe covers, protective glasses and cotton-tipped applicators.