MedShare: Local Safety-Net Clinics

For years, MedShare has been supporting the medical community worldwide by recovering and redistributing excess medical equipment to underresourced  communities. They’ve impacted over 33 million people and equipped more than 950,000 medical professionals in 117 countries worldwide. But in the last few years, they’ve also seen a growing need for their services domestically.

While overall funding has decreased, 80 percent of free and charitable clinics in the United States are dealing with an increase in patient demand. “We always thought, ‘We wish we could do more to help locally,’” said John Penninger, director of Marketing and Communications at MedShare. “So we decided to make this a priority.” And they’ve done just that—thanks in part to your generosity through Be Rich.

MedShare started their efforts in their own backyard, reaching out to safety-net clinics in Fulton and DeKalb counties. Over the past few years, they’ve built meaningful partnerships with organizations like Ethne Health.

Ethne serves the uninsured and underinsured in the Clarkston area, home to a growing refugee community. They work to provide high-quality care to individuals in their community while attempting to remove the barriers of cost and language. With a rotating team of interpreters, they serve patients who communicate in 42 different languages and represent even more ethnic backgrounds. 

Through their partnership with MedShare, Ethne recently expanded their services by opening a new dental clinic. Dental care is inaccessible for many because of the expense and limited insurance options, but oral health plays an essential role in primary care. Thanks to MedShare’s investment in Ethne, a whole new group of people have access to life-changing care for themselves and their families.

“We’re going to keep doing critical work internationally,” said John. “But there’s also work going on locally that’s making a huge difference.”

Thanks to your generosity through last year’s Be Rich campaign, we were able to invest in MedShare’s efforts to support clinics like Ethne Health. You funded vital infrastructure that will allow them to ship supplies to even more clinics nationwide and helped them purchase necessary supplies that don’t often get donated.

There are hundreds of clinics just like Ethne that need supplies and equipment to serve their neighbors. With this new focus, MedShare is working to meet their needs—and thanks to your generosity, they’re one step closer.