FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2020
CONTACT:
Anne Barlow, Chicago Frontline Angels, anne@kv265.org or 312.543.7135
RoiAnn Phillips, PHIMC, roiann.phillips@phimc.org or 708.466.2650
Chicago Frontline Angels (CFA) Partnership between Chicago Healthcare Professionals and PHIMC Brings Needed PPE To Frontline Workers
CHICAGO, IL – Concerned for the safety of the doctors, nurses, and staff fighting on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic, Chicago Frontline Angels (CFA), a group of Chicago healthcare workers and other skilled professionals, is partnering with Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago (PHIMC) to acquire urgently needed personal protective equipment (PPE), including lifesaving N95 masks, for Chicago area hospitals and frontline workers. To accomplish this task, CFA established a GoFundMe page for donations at: gofundme.com/f/chicago-frontline-angels.
CFA is a grassroots organization composed of skilled professionals, including doctors, public health specialists, attorneys, and biomedical engineers from Chicago area hospitals. The entire leadership team is donating their time and has foregone compensation for their work on this cause. PHIMC is a non-profit organization aimed at promoting and improving health equity and public health infra-structure. Funds go towards facilitating the purchase and delivery of masks and other urgent PPE for frontline healthcare workers dealing with the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the Chicago area.
While hospitals and government agencies are desperately trying to procure masks, supply chain limitations and funding restrictions are creating critical delays and shortages. CFA, working with PHIMC, has successfully navigated these challenges and obtained masks and other PPE quickly and distributed these urgently needed supplies to local area hospitals.
In the past two weeks, CFA’s multidisciplinary team, working with fiscal sponsor PHIMC, successfully raised more than $25,000 through public donations delivering 1,200 N95 masks to Chicago, with additional supplies arriving later this week.
PHIMC jumped right into the effort, efficiently routing funds to suppliers for speedy deliveries. “We are proud to partner with CFA to help them realize their mission of keeping Chicago’s healthcare workers safe as they help to defeat this pandemic,” says Karen A. Reitan, President and Chief Executive Officer of PHIMC. “This team has the resources, knowledge, and expertise to quickly bring supplies to the frontline.” CFA continues to raise funds to supply masks and other PPE to Chicago Area frontlines before hospitals reach peak capacity.
“Due to our connections to suppliers, distributors, and local healthcare networks — as well as our expertise in understanding product and safety requirements — we can operate in an agile fashion to provide supplies including FDA/NIOSH approved N95 masks to Chicago,” notes Amy Wang, a member of the CFA team who earned her Master of Public Health from Yale University and is currently a director of external R&D at Horizon Therapeutics. “From the greeters welcoming patients through our hospital doors, to the ER nurses and doctors evaluating patients, to the respiratory therapists monitoring those who are suffering, the PPE will make an important difference to prevent hospital worker exposure and further spread of COVID-19.”
To donate to the CFA campaign or learn more, please visit: gofundme.com/f/chicago-frontline-angels. Funds go towards facilitating the purchase and delivery of masks and other urgent PPE for frontline healthcare workers dealing with the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the Chicago area.
Photos are available below.
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Chicago Frontline Angels is composed of skilled professionals, including doctors, public health specialists, attorneys, and biomedical engineers. The entire leadership team is donating their time and has foregone compensation for their work on this cause. Connect with CFA on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago (PHIMC) enhances the capacity of public health and healthcare systems to promote health equity and expand access to services. Through organizational development, systems transformation, fiscal management, and program implementation, PHIMC leads efforts to strengthen public health infrastructure in Illinois.
