Heritage Health receives personal protection gear
Kyle Rooks of the Idaho Primary Care Association delivers boxes of personal protective equipment to Heritage Health’s Coeur d’Alene Clinic.
Photos by Marc Stewart
Heritage Health CEO Mike Baker carries boxes of personal protective equipment from the Idaho Primary Care Association.
Heritage Health’s Stephanie Cellis gives the thumb’s up to personal medical equipment being delivered to the Coeur d’Alene Clinic.
COEUR d’ALENE — An important truckload of personal protective equipment arrived at Heritage Health Wednesday afternoon.
The special delivery was made possible by the Idaho Primary Care Association thanks to a grant from the Cambia Health Foundation.
“We are grateful to the Cambia Health Foundation and the Idaho Primary Care Association for this lifesaving gift,” said Mike Baker, Heritage Health CEO. “Unfortunately, the battle against COVID-19 isn’t over yet and this personal protective equipment is in short supply across the country.”
Cambia Health Foundation awarded the grant for $200,000 to the Idaho Primary Care Association as part of the Community Health Center Crisis Response and Recovery Initiative. IPCA received a donation of 20,000 medical gloves and 120 N95 masks from the Idaho Chinese Organization and 100,000 surgical masks.
The IPCA, the association group for Idaho’s health centers, will support all 14 health centers in 52 communities across the state by delivering the PPE provided by Cambia Health Foundation. The grant facilitation from the IPCA will help meet the immediate recovery needs of those most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Community health centers have a vital role in the fight against COVID-19,” said Yvonne Ketchum-Ward, CEO of the Idaho Primary Care Association. “Health Centers serve one out of 9 Idahoans, both in the rural and urban centers of the state. The funding to the health centers will protect caregivers and their patients as they reach out to populations who may otherwise go without care.”
The IPCA will be delivering the PPE to all Idaho’s health center sites to raise awareness of the role health centers have in the fight against COVID- 19 and the importance of protecting the health center frontline staff.
“By protecting our health center heroes during this time, we can support their mission of keeping Idaho’s communities safe,” said Ketchum-Ward.
