Shipping Container Arrives to Mercy Hospital

The last week of May we shared on our social media that a shipment of medical equipment was on its way to Sierra Leone from Charleston, South Carolina. We are excited to announce today that the shipment has finally arrived at Mercy Hospital intact! 

Workers smiling as the seal on the container is broken and materials are unloaded in Bo.

The shipment, which came from the Medical University of South Carolina and Charleston Hospital Roper St. Francis, included a variety of equipment, including new operating room lights, surgical instruments, autoclave, EKG machines, and baby bassinets. The shipment also included a few additional items including extra gloves which will be provided to 4 other hospitals and clinics in Sierra Leone that are members of HCW ‘s Together for Global Health network. 

The new equipment is expected to improve the quality of care that Mercy Hospital can provide to its patients. In particular, the operating room lights will make it easier for Dr. Stevens and other surgeons visiting Mercy to see the operating field more clearly. The surgical instruments including a wound cauterizer and a vacuum-assisted wound closure will help the surgical staff perform more accurate procedures and shorten patient recovery time. And the baby bassinets will allow babies to stay next to their mothers in the maternity ward.  

The staff and patients at Mercy Hospital are very happy with the new equipment. The staff says that the new equipment will make their jobs easier and more efficient. And the patients say that they feel their quality of care will be enhanced. Mercy Hospital plans to advertise the new equipment to drive more patients to the hospital. Alongside the new laboratory equipment that has been purchased and dedicated this fall, the hospital believes that the new equipment will make it a more attractive option for patients who are seeking high-quality medical care.
​The arrival of the new medical equipment at Mercy Hospital is a major step forward for the hospital. The new equipment will improve the quality of care that Mercy Hospital can provide to its patients, and it will help to attract more patients to the hospital.

These field stretchers will make it easier for patients to be transported between wards and to the OR.

This has been an ongoing project for almost three years. First, the equipment and supplies had to be procured from surplus at the MUSC Hospitals’ warehouses, different vendors and then packed and stored at a warehouse at MUSC. The team working on this was constantly consulting with the Mercy Hospital team to ensure that the items they needed were being procured and not anything they could not use. We also had to ensure that any equipment that came over was thoroughly tested and would arrive with the necessary consumables and supplies needed to use it well. Then a plan had to be created to ship the equipment, involving many discouraging turns when we struggled to find a shipping company to work with. After selecting a shipping company, there was a lot of paperwork to be done to ensure that everything would be cleared at the port. The Healey International Relief Foundation which ships containers to Sierra Leone on a regular basis, was a huge help in making sure everything was done correctly. Next, the team at MUSC worked to pack the container and bid it bon voyage. Then, finally came the diligent work on the ground to get the container cleared at the port, which is no small feat during an election season when officials might hold up the shipment for months, causing enormous fees to be incurred before it can be released. After 3 months of nervous waiting and prayers, the shipment made its way down to Bo and was unloaded by the Mercy Hospital team and some hired workers. 

We are so thankful to everyone who worked to make this possible for us. Thank you to Mary Ann Gilkeson, Dr. Gary Gilkeson, Jennifer Simon, Claude Allande, Kevin Walker, Keith Jenkins, Nick Caraviello, and Robert Tritt and others at the MUSC team for their diligent work in collecting this equipment, storing it, checking the equipment, and working with the shipping agents. Thank you also to Amy Alexander and those at Roper St. Francis who provided some of the equipment. Thank you to vendors Tom Shrader of Medco Blue and Heather Hatch of Fujifilm/Sonosite for their generous equipment donations. Thank you to Mario at ​ Logistics Trader, LLC for shipping this container and answering all of our questions. We are also thankful to Josephine Garnem and Meghan Smith at the Healey International Relief Foundation, Caritas Freetown, and Ismael Alfred Charles for their support in getting the shipment cleared at the port. For shipping support, thank you to generous partner church members and Audra Plopper at the TRIMEDX Foundation for your grants to pay for part of the shipping. Thank you to members of Bethel UMC in Charleston for your contributions to the shipping costs as well. Dr. Carlos Amaral, thank you for reviewing the equipment that is being shipped over to make sure there were no electrical concerns. Last but not least, thank you to the Mercy Hospital team and Dr. Stevens, whose hard work and dedication to saving lives in Sierra Leone inspired all these people to work together!​