Life sciences companies and public affairs firms are coming together to support protecting our vital healthcare workers from COVID-19. More than a dozen companies are supporting the launch of the Healthcare Heroes Fund, including Takeda Canada, 3Sixty Public Affairs, Mapol Inc, Pivina Consulting Inc, Santis Health, Crestview Strategy, Enterprise Canada, KW Mitchell Consulting, Take Care Supply, and VoxPop Innovation. This charitable fund will work with government, the healthcare system, clinical experts, and suppliers to secure personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare heroes fighting on the front lines. PPE includes face masks, protective gowns and gloves, face shields, and other medicalgrade equipment designed to keep these workers safe from infection from CO- VID-19.
Doctors, nurses, personal support workers, pharmacists, and many more workers are showing up to work each day, putting themselves at risk. They are our Healthcare Heroes. They are there for us, we must be there for them.
“Many of us in the health system have struggled to get PPE,” says Dr. Jeremy Rezmovitz, Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto and co-founder of the Conquer COVID-19 initiative. “After surveying a number of GTA family physicians, 25% worried about keeping their practices open due to a lack of protective equipment.”
The Fund will purchase PPE from reliable vendors and support efforts of groups like Conquer COVID-19 to deliver equipment to frontline workers. Its partners are identifying and validating new vendors, while navigating around transportation and logistical challenges, as well as raising money.
“We are mobilizing our resources to support Canada’s effort to protect our healthcare pros and volunteers,” says Danny Chang from the fund. “We have relationships, expertise, and resources that we want to pool to protect and save lives.”
The Healthcare Heroes Fund welcomes Takeda Canada as the lead kick-off sponsor. Thanks to Takeda Canada’s leadership, along with advance pledges from a growing list of partners, the Fund has already raised $100,000 towards its $500,000 interim fundraising goal.
“We all owe a great deal of gratitude to our healthcare workers and volunteers who are on the front lines fighting this pandemic,” said Gamze Yüceland, General Manager, Takeda Canada.
“We are honoured to partner with the Healthcare Heroes Fund and support their tireless efforts to ensure our heroes have access to the necessary PPE that is so desperately needed.”
We are asking for support. To donate and support our efforts, visit www.healthcareheroesfund.ca. Doctors, nurses, personal support workers, pharmacists, and many more workers are showing up to work each day, putting themselves at risk. They are our Healthcare Heroes. They are there for us, we must be there for them.
The Healthcare Heroes Fund was created to support current efforts to source and supply Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers. Created with the support of public affairs companies, consultancies to the healthcare sector and through the Toronto Foundation, our goal is to source reliable vendors to provide this urgently needed protective equipment to our Canadian healthcare workers.
