The Chinese Community Alliance (CCA) recently gifted $140,000 to the EvergreenHealth Foundation in recognition of the health system’s ongoing efforts to treat the COVID-19 outbreak in the region. The funds will go toward purchasing personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure the safety of health care workers on the front lines.
CCA, which consists of 65 Chinese organizations and community churches in Washington, has been collecting donations of masks, gowns, and other PPE to gift to local hospitals, first responders and nursing homes since earlier this year, according to a press release. The organization has donated nearly 130,000 surgical masks to Seattle-area hospitals, including EvergreenHealth.
“We are honored to share this gift with EvergreenHealth in recognition of its dedicated staff and providers, who tirelessly care for our community during this unprecedented time,” Xiaoning Jang, CCA member and deputy director of IT for the city of Kirkland, said in the release. “We are humbled by the incredible contributions from our hundreds of small donors, who have come together to demonstrate their gratitude to our community hospital.”
In a ceremony on April 6, the alliance presented its gift to EvergreenHealth leadership. CEO Dr. Jeff Tomlin was joined by Kirkland Deputy Mayor Jay Arnold to accept the gift. Representing CCA was Hong Qi, secretary of United Chinese Americans of Washington; Liam Li, vice president of Guardian Angels Charitable Foundation; and Qiong Chen, vice president of Huazhong University of Science and Technology Alumni Association of Seattle.
“All of us at EvergreenHealth are incredibly thankful for this generous gift from the Chinese Community Alliance, which supports our commitment to maintaining an environment of absolute safety for our providers, staff and patients,” Tomlin said in the release.
The donation from CCA will help secure additional PPE for EvergreenHealth providers and staff as they care for patients with COVID-19, the release states. The health system has been on the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 since late February, when the virus was first recognized in the Kirkland community.
