ThedaCare Family of Foundations has shared a photo along with the great news that they have received a shipment of some much-needed ventilators, thanks to a donor who gave from a fund within the Community Foundation.

The five ventilators in the photo above were part of a shipment that arrived Wednesday, four of them made possible through the generous support of  the anonymous donor who gave more than $170,000 to both Ascension St. Elizabeth Hospital and ThedaCare to help purchase ventilators. (Read, Life-saving transformational gift to local hospitals provides much-needed ventilators.)

“As you can imagine, the supply chain process for hospitals across the country has been thrown into chaos over the past two weeks as hospitals, state and the federal governments seek to secure a dwindling pool of critical supplies,” says Shane Kohl, director for ThedaCare Family of Foundations. Kohl points to this week’s U.S. Surgeon General guidelines established for hospitals to have two patients share a ventilator, “an unheard of practice that indicates just how dire the situation is in some communities and how important these devices are for our patients,” Kohl says.

“As ThedaCare prepares for the expected patient surge, we’re incredibly thankful to not only our donor, but to the Community Foundation as well for helping make this gift a reality.”

Our local nonprofits are facing dire needs and critical shortages. You can make a difference! Please give to the COVID-19 Community Response Fund today.