Improve Access to Health in the U.S.

When the Tubbs Fire swept through Santa Rosa, California last October, it destroyed the Santa Rosa Health Center’s Vista Family site, which served more than 24,000 patients each year.

But the fire didn’t stop the health center’s doctors from seeing patients. Special shipping containers were converted into exam rooms, allowing clinicians to continue treating patients in the months since the blaze. Two mobile health vans also allowed care to continue in the absence of a building.

Last month, the center got some additional support to help as it rebuilds. Direct Relief donated $500,000 to support its continued recovery efforts, which will go to help fund a new campus.

The new site being built will serve patients displaced from the fires, and the funding will also support continued services at the center.

At the time of last year’s fire, the center was already constructing the additional campus, which will serve the patients displaced from the destroyed campus over the next year. That site is expected to serve an estimated 8,200 patients a year and will be the first facility that fully integrates medical, dental, mental health and complimentary medicine in one facility.

Direct Relief operates the nation’s largest charitable medicine program, supporting 1,300 nonprofit community health centers providing 27 million people access to high-quality, affordable healthcare nationwide. Direct Relief is licensed to distribute prescription drugs in all 50 states, and is the only humanitarian nonprofit designated as a verified-accredited wholesale distributor by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.

Direct Relief equips local healthcare providers in medically underserved areas with medicines and supplies on an ongoing basis.

Hurricanes Maria, Irma, and Harvey left a trail of devastation throughout the Caribbean and U.S. Gulf Coast. Direct Relief quickly coordinated with hundreds of local health clinics and hospitals -- which they already support on a day to day basis -- to connect them with specifically requested medical aid after the disasters hit.

In Puerto Rico, for example, Direct Relief coordinated with longstanding partner healthcare facilities and teams of medical doctors on the ground to deliver nearly $30 million of medicines and supplies within a month of Hurricane Maria making landfall. When Direct Relief airlifted 76 tons of aid in late October, these healthcare providers helped ensure delivery to hard-to-serve areas of the island.

When a disaster strikes, this extensive network of partnerships allows Direct Relief to collaborate with trusted partners to assess immediate healthcare needs, understand the evolving situation on the ground, and respond quickly and effectively.

On October 27, 2017, Direct Relief airlifted 150,000 lbs. of urgently-needed medical resources to health facilities in Puerto Rico, where severe medical shortages persist one month after the devastation of Hurricane Maria. The Direct Relief-chartered MD-11 cargo jet landed in San Juan with $21 million (wholesale) worth of medications and supplies, including extensive quantities of intravenous solutions, nutritionals, and prescription medications for a range of acute conditions and chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension.

For more than eight years, Direct Relief has supported a network of nonprofit clinics throughout Puerto Rico on an ongoing basis. Prior to Hurricane Maria, Direct Relief had been coordinating with the Department of Health to assist with the medical evacuees from neighboring islands after Hurricane Irma two weeks prior.

Over the past two months, Direct Relief has delivered 148 tons of medications, vaccines, and medical supplies valued at $64.7 million (wholesale) in 560 emergency shipments to 143 partner organizations in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, USVI, and seven Caribbean countries.

In addition, Direct Relief has provided and committed financial support in the form of grants totaling over $2.7 million to 43 nonprofit health centers and clinics and their associations in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico.

These relief efforts have been made possible due to the tremendous outpouring of generosity from individuals, foundations, and companies to help support people as they recover from the impact of these massive storms

In response to the opioid epidemic in the United States, Direct Relief is working with Pfizer to make up to 1 million doses of overdose-reversing Naloxone available at no cost to community health centers, free and charitable clinics, public health departments and other nonprofit providers nationwide.

In the first four months of 2017, Direct Relief delivered $37.5 million worth of medicines and supplies to community clinics and health centers across the United States.

In 4,710 shipments, Direct Relief provided items donated from more than 50 healthcare manufacturing companies, including BD which provided needles and syringes -- items essential for people living with diabetes.

Other items provided to these safety net facilities for distribution to their low-income and uninsured patients included: Vaseline for dermatological care; hygiene kits; dental kits containing toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, etc.; and Naloxone to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

Support from individuals such as you help Direct Relief enable this assistance. Thank you.