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The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is helping premature infants beyond the walls of BWH through the donation of 30 retired NICU monitors as well as medical journals and periodicals to “Project Vietnam.”
Sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Project Vietnam provides humanitarian assistance to Vietnam, focusing on needy rural areas and children at risk. A volunteer for several years, Steven Ringer, MD, PhD, director of Newborn Medicine, introduced the project to the NICU and helped facilitate the donation.
“I’m always on the lookout for equipment or supplies that are no longer of use to the hospital but that could be very valuable to the medical community in Vietnam,” said Ringer. “The donated monitors are still in great condition and will make a huge difference in Vietnam, where they do not have monitors at all. This addition of equipment will be a tremendous step forward for them.”
Ringer also explained that Vietnamese physicians often do not have access to medical journals and periodicals. “Most medical journals can be found online in their entirety now, so it made sense to share the piles of older journals that we had around the NICU with our colleagues in Vietnam,” he said.
Paul Hughes, administrator for the Department of Newborn Medicine, and Ruth Capella were happy to pack the 30 boxes that were shipped to Vietnam, aided by Jennifer Jackson in Clinical Engineering, who prepared the monitors; George White in Materials Management, who provided empty cartons, shipping tape, and transport to the mail room; and Dennis Christofi in Office Services, who arranged for the boxes to be shipped.
“This was a great opportunity to help out, in a very small way, with an important international charitable project,” said Hughes. “And it really was an all-around team effort.”