Project C.U.R.E.: delivering health, hope and medical products to the world

Healthcare Purchasing News, June, 2003 by W. Douglas Jackson

For example, you can imagine the staggering logistical issues involved in cataloging and organizing the supplies in our warehouses. In the past, inventory information was literally hand-written by volunteers. But thanks to a donation of procurement software by St. Paul, MN-based Lawson Software, the process will be automated and streamlined. This will allow our volunteers to be more efficient and productive.

In addition, IASIS Healthcare Corporation, a 14-hospital integrated delivery network based in Franklin, TN, that is a Lawson customer, will interface the software with barcode technology that Project C.U.R.E. will use to track equipment and supplies, as well as provide ongoing help desk support.

Lawson executive vice president Eric Morgan explains why his organization is getting involved with Project C.U.R.E. "Lawson's goal with healthcare clients is to help them manage their business so they can focus on providing excellent patient care," said Morgan. "We believe that we'll be able to help Project C.U.R.E. in a similar way, allowing this organization to focus on providing health and hope to the world."

RELATED ARTICLE: Project C.U.R.E.: What Can You Do To Help?

* Donate supplies and equipment. No donation is too big or too small, Hospitals, clinics, and healthcare supply and equipment manufacturers cat donate overstocked or used items. It many cases, Project C.U.R,E. dispatches trucks and "C.U.R.E. Couriers" to retrieve the donations.

* Sponsor a cargo shipment. For your contribution of as little as $6,000, cargo shipment worth $300,000 or average can be distributed to those who need it most.

* Sponsor C.U.R.E. kits. For only $150, you can sponsor an 18"x18"x24" box containing nearly $3,000 of medical supplies. Individuals or groups on medical missions around the globe, such as Doctors Without Borders, often use the C.U.R.E. kits.

* Participate in C.U.R.E. clinics. Volunteer medical professionals participating in the clinics spend 10 days to two weeks in the poorest regions of the world, providing free medical services.

* Volunteer. Help is always needed. To learn more, visit www.projectcure.org

Why Help Out?

* Donations = tax deduction. In exchange for donating valuable, life-saving medical products, companies, particularly medical manufacturing organizations, receive useful tax benefits. Additional benefits may be available to qualifying donors under Section 170(e)(3) of the tax code. Donating firms should consult with their accountants for eligibility requirements.

* Donating supplies costs less than disposal or storage. Healthcare organizations can eliminate transfer and storage costs by putting donations of medical equipment to work, while helping deliver health and hope to the world.

* You can make a world of difference. From Malaysia to Kosovo to the Dominican Republic, your help is desperately needed around the world. You can help save lives.

W. Douglas Jackson, Ph.D., J.D., is president of the Benevolent Healthcare Foundation and its humanitarian arm, Project C.U.R.E. Dr. Jackson joined Project C.U.R.E. in 1997 as its president and CEO following a successful tenure as provost of Colorado Christian University near Denver Previously he served as director of the Fermanian Business Center at Point Loma University in San Diego. Dr Jackson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, a Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado at Boulder; and a Ph.D. in Business Administration with an emphasis in finance and econometrics also from the University of Colorado at Boulder Douglas is a member of the Alpha Delta Sigma and the Beta Gamma Sigma national honor societies, and is a member of the National Who's Who.