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The generous donation of 35,000 face shields was made by Ramsay Health Care Australia’s sourcing department, Linear Healthcare Group, which also arranged the logistics and shipping of the product to a hospital in PNG’s East New Britain Province. 

General Manager of Linear Healthcare Group, Cheryl Adams, said it was rewarding to know the face shields were helping healthcare workers in need. 

“We are always looking for ways to support our local community and broader regional network of health care providers. The pandemic provided a rare opportunity where we had an excess of some PPE lines, such as face shields, which matched the needs of this developing nation,” Ms Adams said. 

“We were so pleased that Ramsay Australia approved this donation and covered not only the cost of the face shields, but also the shipping and logistics expenses too because this is a really remote place, there are no planes or roads and we could only get the product there by boat,” she said. 

With only 5,000 hospital beds and 500 doctors to service a population of nine million people, Papua New Guinea was unprepared for a global pandemic. 

By June 2021, PNG had experienced more than 17,000 cases and 173 deaths related to COVID-19.  Emergency medical teams from Australia, the UK and USA are providing support on the ground and there is an ongoing need for vital medical equipment. 

Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr Robert Sharp, who is based at Tamara Private Hospital in New South Wales, has often led the Rotary International and Orthopaedic Outreach Program to PNG. He knew of the struggles with PPE at St Mary’s Hospital and raised the issue of Ramsay Australia donating the face shields. 

“We’re very fortunate that we have a Ramsay surgeon like Dr Sharp, who has the local knowledge in PNG and provided us with an opportunity to donate these face shields to a community that really needs them,” Ms Adams said. 

Linear Healthcare Group has previously donated PPE to other not-for-profit organisations including the Fred Hollows Foundation.