Global COVID-19 Response | Africa
Story 153

John Schroer: During the pandemic, Adventist Health had the opportunity to partner with ADRA International to give relief supplies, specifically PPE, worldwide, but focusing in on six countries in Africa, as well.

Dr. William Yaw-Kpakpo Brown: Since the onset of COVID-19, ADRA Ghana and ADRA International have been working together to ensure that we support our facilities with the requested medical items that they will need.

Dr. Kwabena Owusu-Asante: Talking about COVID-19 and Ghana, and the Ghana Adventist Health Services specifically, it hit us all quite hard because our system was not really configured to deal with rapid turnover of especially consumables and personal protective equipment because everybody was scared, everybody was afraid, everybody was trying to protect themselves as much as possible. And we also needed to get our staff to have the confidence that they were well enough protected in order to go out and deliver their services. Prices shot up in multiples, and so, even acquiring them was so difficult.

Justin Freed: I think it all started when John Troy reached out to me and he asked if we had PPE we can donate for whether it was a Mexico mission trip or Africa, and we spent some time in my office talking about what we could do. We were able to put together a package to donate to those mission projects. Professionally, it's really been gratifying to be able to do more than just your day-to-day workaround inventory and strategy around supply chain within the markets to using those same skill sets and applying it to countries in need, communities in need.

Dr. Kwabena Owusu-Asante: The greater problem that we typically have with our partners when they help us is that help comes once, we get used to the high level of support, and then the ladder is pulled out and we are left on top of the tree. And so, I'll say that it is very helpful for us [to have] a sustainable, ongoing, lasting relationship with our partners.

John Schroer: Through this collaborative partnership, we were able to provide not only these needed PPE supplies, but we are also able to strengthen our strategic alliance with ADRA International and be able to build a platform and a process to be able to guide more supplies for the long-term into these same countries.

Dr. William Yaw-Kpakpo Brown: We received a container worth almost $600,000 of medical supplies and we share that amongst 31 facilities. This time, also, a collaborative effort between ADRA International and Adventist Health, and then ADRA Ghana. And we teamed up with Ghana Adventist Health Service, GAHS, to provide them with this kind of support.

Justin Freed: Through Adventist Health, we're primarily focused on our communities where our markets and clinics are based. We're able to expand that into countries and other locations in greater need. And utilizing the skill sets and abilities we have in supply chain is really gratifying. And I know our team in supply chain really gets excited about the ability to impact our mission's program just beyond the four walls of our hospitals and our clinics. So it's really meaningful to what we do.