On January 23, Local and international humanitarian aid organization Global Links presented UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh with its Outstanding Hospital Partner Award, recognizing the hospital’s 34-year commitment to rescuing surplus supplies and equipment and redirecting them to serve communities in need.

Global Links began working with UPMC Children’s Hospital to collect no longer needed medical supplies and equipment in 1990. 

UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh was an early leader in its sustainability efforts, and over the last three decades has redirected 129 tons of medical supplies, equipment and furnishings that would have otherwise been discarded.

Those materials are shared with Global Links, who provides them to clinics, doctors and hospitals serving patients in lower-resourced communities locally and in 20 countries around the world.

U.S. hospitals such as UPMC Children’s accrue medical and clinical furnishings surplus for multiple reasons, including upgrades, renovations, healthcare regulations, rebranding and more. 

Surplus materials range from sutures, surgical tools, bandages and gloves to exam tables, beds, IV poles, stretchers, wheelchairs and more.

“We want to thank Global Links for their partnership and trust for over the last 30 years,” said Diane Hupp, president, UPMC Children’s Hospital. “We are grateful for their support in helping to improve the quality of care for patients and families around the world.”

Global Links Executive Director Angela Garcia shared that, “UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh has been a special partner. I have visited pediatric units in Latin America that were destroyed by hurricanes and have been rebuilt thanks to surplus equipment from the former Oakland hospital building. Young patients in multiple countries have had surgeries to repair congenital heart defects as well as to heal trauma and burn injuries thanks to donations of specialized surgical supplies rescued from UPMC Children’s.”

Global Links is a Pittsburgh-based non-profit dedicated to improving health in communities with need.

Global Links collaborates with U.S. healthcare institutions and the community to rescue hundreds of tons of high-quality surplus medical materials every year.

These materials are shared with public health facilities around the world and with nonprofit organizations in Western Pennsylvania that are providing care for their community’s most vulnerable people.

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[Posted: January 23, 2024]

1/29/2024