July 27, 2020 | Lauren Woods - Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine

Ventilators and N95 Masks Donated to UConn Health by the Fosun Foundation

To help the fight against COVID-19, the Fosun Foundation with its Fosun International and Longfor Group, have generously donated six ventilators to UConn John Dempsey Hospital and hundreds of N95 masks.

The Fosun Foundation has donated 6 Breas Vivo 50 life-support ventilators to UConn John Dempsey Hospital to support the fight against COVID-19 (Photo courtesy of Breas).

To help the fight against COVID-19, the Fosun Foundation with its Fosun International and Longfor Group, have donated six Breas Vivo 50 life-support ventilators to UConn John Dempsey Hospital and 400 N95 masks.

The Fosun Foundation’s donated N95 masks have already been put to good use by UConn Health’s front-line health care workers caring for COVID-19 patients, and the hospital plans to use the generous donation of more than $37,000 in life-supporting ventilators if there is another COVID-19 virus surge.

UConn Health’s Mark William Murowsky and Juana Mendoza of the Office of Logistics Management with some of the 400 Fosun Foundation’s donated N95 masks in short supply nationally.

“I can now sleep better at night because we have 6 new ventilators,” said Dr. Mark Metersky, chief of pulmonary service at UConn John Dempsey Hospital. “These donated ventilators are so important to our efforts to ensure we have the tools we need to save lives should we see our COVID-19 numbers spike again.”

In a video conference call on July 15, Dr. Andy Agwunobi, CEO of UConn Health, personally thanked the Fosun Foundation for their generosity and support of his hospital’s patients and clinical providers.

“I want to extend our heartfelt gratitude for the Fosun Foundation and its donors, Fosun International and Longfor Group, for their extreme generosity, Bo Wei, Rene Wong, Kate Zhao, Lily Zhang, Fenhua Liu, Jeff Blumenthal, Kerri Goodwin, and so many people behind the scenes across the globe for their tireless work over the past 4 months,” said Agwunobi. “I also want to express my gratitude to Connecticut Insurance Department Commissioner Andrew Mais for his critical initiation and full support during the whole process.”

The donations to UConn Health are part of the Fosun Foundation’s global action for COVID-19 support efforts in Connecticut and other states, and other countries such as Italy, the United Kingdom, France, India, Portugal, Brazil and beyond. Each year the Fosun Foundation provides natural disaster relief, poverty reduction, and financial aid to people with disabilities, and other cultural and humanitarian efforts.

In addition, the Fosun Foundation recently partnered with Sing for Hope, a non-profit charity in New York, NY to uplift the spirits of UConn Health front-line workers through the power of music.

 

Find out how you can help make a difference in the COVID-19 response at UConn Health.