By Jason Chernock, Director of Programs and Partnerships
When MedShare was founded In 1998, our founders had a clear purpose in mind. There was a tremendous need for high quality medical supplies and biomedical equipment throughout much of the world, and yet the United States had a surplus of these very items. Building of of the succesful Food Banking model, A.B. Short and Bob Thomas started gathering excess supplies from local hospital systems, doctor’s offices, and distributors.
What seemed like a simple concept of bridging the gap between surplus and need turned out to be far more complex In it’s execution. But over time, MedShare built out a robust inventory management system, created sustainable partnerships with the healthcare industry, and built long-term relationships with healthcare providers throughout low- and middle-income communities in countries who could put these tools to work saving lives.
The MedShare team learned a lot of hard lessons along the way, from the challenges of international shipping to the rapidly changing landscape of healthcare in the US. But one of these lessons turned into a whole new way of supporting under-resourced communities.
While we seldom think to look at the expirtation date on the syringe a nurse is about to draw blood with, or the mask being worn by our doctor, this is a key criteria in international medical aid. So tracking this Information is vital to meeting the regulatory requirements of countries and municipalities around the world.
In fact, most countries require between 6 and 24 months of expiry remaining on any medical supplies before they will allow them to be imported as international aid. Due to this requirement, MedShare found itself with our own surplus –- pallets of perfectly good, never-used, high-quality medical supplies that were unexpired, but too short-dated to make the long trek overseas. Ultimately, MedShare found a home for much of this surplus by partnering with free and charitable clinics here in the US who could use these supplies more readily, if not immediately.
These free and charitable clinics are an essential part of our country’s healthcare safety net, and as independent nonprofit organizations, they provide a wide range of essential health services to uninsured and underinsured patients across the country. The National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics reports that over 1,400 such entities exist across the United States and these clinics treated 1.7 million patients In 2023 alone.
Over the years, MedShare has supported 992 charitable health clinics and community organizations across the United States. Many of these organizations visited our primary care supply centers in Decatur, GA and San Leandro, CA, while others who were not in close proximity utilized our online ordering platform. During this time, MedShare has donated medical supplies and equipment valued conservatively at just over $1.6 million to the clinics, helping them serve nearly 200,000 patients.
Given that more healthcare-insecure individuals and families currently rely on our country’s network of free and charitable clinics than ever before, MedShare is committed to expanding our efforts to support these clinics in a number of ways. By doing so, we continue to help strengthen vulnerable health systems, enabling them to provide a higher level of care for those who might otherwise go without access to healthcare at all.
