A whole slew of surplus medical supplies is making its way from Toronto to Ukraine thanks to a group of hospitals throughout the city.
The University Health Network's Energy and Environment team has been running Operation Green for over 10 years, where they have collected extra, unused and expired medical supplies from hospitals across the city and sent them to areas that are in need in any part of the world.
"We partner with community organizations like Not Just Tourists to get those supplies to countries and communities that need them. When the conflict started in Ukraine, we asked if they could send the supplies there and they were already thinking the same thing, connecting with the Canadian Ukrainian Foundation to get it there," Lisa Vanlint, the manager for Environmental Sustainability, Energy and Environment at UHN told Narcity.
"Surplus supplies can save lives."
Not Just Tourists storing boxes of donated medical supplies by UHN at a church in Roncesvalles.UHN | Handout
Typically Operation Green would run collections every month but they were paused for a while because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Due to the pause, we already had extra supplies ready for this month's collection and once our hospital president, Dr. Kevin Smith, sent the word to 16,000 UHN employees, we are happily overwhelmed by the response to help," Vanlint said.
Last week they sent 46 boxes to Ukraine filled with tons of useful contributions like masks, face shields, splints, and even IV supplies. Now, they are currently accepting donations from their UHN staff up until March 21, and are asking for a variety of surplus from bandages to defibrillators, and so much more.
"Now is a time to dig deep, have empathy for the people of Ukraine and for the many communities in need around the globe. Let's pay it forward," Vanlint said.