SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Province of the Sacred Heart reports that the outreach program of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis in Springfield, Illinois, is “going strong.”
The May 8 issue of Around the Province (ATP) Sacred Heart reports that the ministry, founded in 2002 as Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach, collects medical equipment and supplies from hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin, Donations are listed on an online inventory made available to domestic and overseas recipients. The sisters solicit orders from end-users and customize shipments to their needs.
According to ATP, the Mission Outreach is a not-for-profit organization focused on the recovery and responsible redistribution of healthcare equipment and supplies to developing countries.
In 2007, Mission Outreached recovered more than 670,000 pounds of useable equipment and supplies that would otherwise have been dumped in landfills. About 380,000 pounds of supplies and equipment, valued at $2.4 million, were shipped to 29 countries to benefit healthcare institutions in Nigeria, Ukraine, Haiti, Honduras and Cuba. On average, each shipment contained items totaling $140,000 in value.
The Hospital Sisters of St. Francis report that Mission Outreach has been named a “preferred medical partner” of the U.S. Navy’s Project Handclasp, that provide aid via U.S. Naval Vessels.
Information about the Sisters’ most recent naval collaborations can be found in the May 8 issue Around the Province (ATP).