Looking for a significant technique to give again through the vacation season, Tajwar Khan, Regional Director of Operations for Crothall Healthcare Technology Options (HTS), discovered the proper match at a scientific engineering convention in Illinois in fall 2023. Undertaking C.U.R.E., the biggest distributor of donated medical gear to communities in 135 international locations, together with underserved hospitals within the US, desperately wanted specialists who may restore damaged anesthesia machines, ventilators, and different important medical units.
“My staff normally has a vacation dinner to rejoice one another and our accomplishments for the yr,” says Khan. “Nonetheless, this yr I wished to take part in a charity occasion the place we are able to make a big effect. After I heard about Undertaking CURE’s want for individuals with the talents we possess, I knew this exercise was the suitable one since IT would assist so many individuals in want of medical care.”
In November 2023, a staff of 14 HTS workers from our Midwest area went to an enormous Undertaking CURE warehouse in Woodbridge, Ailing., a Chicago suburb. (See under for an inventory of all staff members). After assembly the warehouse director who guided them to the damaged gear, the staff went to work.
With their very own instruments and testing gear in hand, the HTS staff repaired roughly 50 medical units over a four-hour interval. For instance, the damaged gear included three anesthesia machines. Utilizing elements from one machine, biomedical technician Andrew Sorensen, who is very skilled in servicing these units, utterly repaired two of them utilizing elements from the third gadget. Testing confirmed that the 2 units have been totally operational.
Different members of the HTS staff used their expertise to restore extra critically wanted gear. Victor Rojo, resident regional supervisor on the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Kids’s Hospital in Chicago, and Gary Zajdzinski, a biomed technician III, repaired transportable x-ray machines. Different units repaired and readied for cargo included toddler heaters and incubators, affected person screens, bilirubin mild phototherapy machines, and automatic exterior defibrillators (AEDs).
“A few of this gear had been sitting idle for months awaiting the suitable technical talent set,” stated Regional Coordinator Karen Elder. “Our staff was rapidly in a position to decide the elements wanted to make the gear operational once more and prepared them for cargo.”
Along with their volunteer work, the staff donated a number of medical units to C.U.R.E. Lisa Ratajczyk, Crothall’s Onsite Director at Methodist Hospital, delivered a beneficiant donation from the hospital of affected person screens and different units. Lurie Kids’s Hospital, one other HTS companion, donated a number of intravenous poles (IV) poles and frequently makes different donations to help Undertaking C.U.R.E initiatives. Khan says leaders in her area frequently converse with hospitals to encourage donating gear to Undertaking C.U.R.E., reasonably than promoting IT for a small value.
The gear repaired by the HTS staff might be included in a container with different medical gear. Every year, Undertaking C.U.R.E. ships roughly 200 40-foot cargo containers carrying between $350,000 – $400,000 value of donated medical provides and gear world wide.
“That is such a novel volunteer challenge that we hope to make IT an annual or semi-annual occasion,” Khan says. “Undertaking C.U.R.E. is an excellent group and with our talent set, we are able to help them and help individuals world wide. Giving again to individuals not as lucky as us is the proper technique to present our ties to the vacation spirit.”
The volunteers consisted of HTS associates who work at Methodist Hospitals in Gary and Merrillville, Indiana; Marion Common Hospital, Marion, Indiana, and Lurie Kids’s Hospital and the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago.
Entrance row, from left to proper: Natsumi Shiotani- Unit Director II, Scott Witterstaetter, Biomedical Technician II; Karen Elder- Regional Coordinator; Victor Rojo, Resident Regional Supervisor; Janett Fuentes, Imaging Specialist I; Tajwar Khan- Regional Director of Operations- Midwest, and Lisa Ratajczyk- Unit Director II.
Again row, from left to proper: Gary Zajdzinski, Biomedical Technician III; Marquis Benton,- Apprentice; Brian Litt- Apprentice; Andrew Sorensen- Biomedical Technician III and Anesthesia Specialist; Brandon Rodriguez, Biomedical Technician I; Jarmaine Strickland, Biomedical Technician III, and Keenan Kozar – Imaging Specialist I.