Southlake has donated a truckload of medical equipment and supplies to support the people of Ukraine through a staff-led initiative with the Canada-Ukraine Foundation.
Anastasia Vlassov, a Registered Nurse in Southlake’s Coronary Intensive Care Unit who was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, was instrumental in making the donation happen. She reached out to a colleague at an Ottawa hospital who, with the Canada-Ukraine Foundation, was able to pass on urgent medical needs in Ukrainian hospitals.
“I knew I needed to do something. I knew that hospitals and people in Ukraine would need supplies so I asked management if there was something we can do at Southlake,” said Anastasia. “It brings very happy tears to my eyes to be able to help like this. I am so, so grateful to Southlake and our staff for pulling together to donate this equipment.”
Working with Southlake’s Facilities and Biomedical Engineering teams, Anastasia was able to organize an in-kind donation of equipment the hospital recently removed from use or replaced with updated technology, including ventilators, patient monitors, defibrillators, ultrasound machines and more.
“This has made my heart happy to be able to do something like this for the people of Ukraine,” said Elizabeth Stairs, Senior Biomedical Technologist at Southlake. “This is something I’m very passionate about so when I heard that we were participating in this initiative I wanted to help. It’s made us really excited to be able to donate this equipment that we no longer need and know it’s going to a good cause that will help save lives.”
After picking up the donations from Southlake on Wednesday, the volunteer truck left for a warehouse in Ottawa, which is temporarily storing medical donations from across Ontario. The items will then be transported to Ukraine and distributed directly to hospitals where they are most needed.
“It was amazing to see our teams come together to help organize this donation,” said Brent Snoddon, Manager, Facility Operations & Biomedical Engineering. “I’m so proud that we were able to contribute and support Ukraine in this way.”
Thank you to Anastasia and Southlake’s Biomedical Engineering team for organizing this donation on behalf of Southlake to hospitals in Ukraine. Thank you to Southlake’s Receiving team for helping to load the donation truck with items. Thank you also to Dr. Tania Rogalska and the Canada-Ukraine Foundation for arranging the logistics and mobilization of these items to Ukraine.
