On Monday, April 27, 2020, Weiss Memorial Hospital was fortunate to receive a substantial donation of PPE from the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, an international humanitarian organization with a mission centered on making the world a better place through compassion, love and hope.

Buddist Donation during the Pandemic

“We were so thrilled to receive this donation of 4,000 surgical masks and 500 face shields on Monday. Many, many thanks to the Tzu Chi Foundation for making this a reality,” stated Weiss Chief Nursing Officer Dina Lipowich, MSN, RN, ACM, NEA-BC.

The Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation is run 100% by volunteers and provides charity services within 61 countries. In Uptown, the organization works with the homeless and other vulnerable populations to gain access to food, shelter and healthcare.

Chong Hsieh, the Executive Director of the Foundation, explained the connection to Weiss and how the donation came to be. “Briana Rosado, a nursing student who volunteers for the foundation, is a family friend of Dr. Tam Thai, Associate Director of Weiss’ Emergency Department. The foundation has a Google form that hospitals can use to request PPE donations. Briana filled out the form on behalf of Weiss and that is how the foundation learned of Weiss’ great need for PPE.”

“We were very happy to receive a request from Weiss Hospital. We are very familiar with Weiss because they have often helped us with our homeless clients. We love their doctors who are so kind and patient, especially Dr. Tam Thai,” said Amy Hsieh, Deputy Director of the Foundation.

The foundation supplied Weiss with an additional 300 goggles and 600 KN95 masks on April 30, 2020. To this great act of kindness we give heartfelt thanks.

Visit Tzuchi.us to learn more about the Tzu Chi Foundation.