St. Lawrence College helps local hospitals in the fight against COVID-19

St. Lawrence College (SLC) has donated three state-of-the-art ventilators, purchased last year, to local hospitals, one to the Cornwall Community Hospital (CCH), and two to the Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC).  

In addition to the ventilators, other important supplies have been donated to the CCH, the Brockville General Hospital (BGH), and the Brockville Mental Health Centre (BMHC). These supplies include more than 20 boxes of examination gloves in various sizes and 6000 masks amongst the three hospitals, as well as hand sanitizer.  The requests were coordinated through administration at the hospitals and Barb Le Blanc, Associate Dean, School of Baccalaureate Nursing, and the supplies were delivered by the lab technicians at both campuses.   

“It is important to us that we provide whatever help we can to our community partners during this extraordinary situation,” Le Blanc said. “We care about the health and welfare of the communities we serve and are committed to working with our partners throughout this.” 

The college is continuing to distribute remaining inventory of personal protective equipment (PPE) to community agencies this week and has provided local public health officials with specifications of on-campus labs dedicated to health sciences, for possible use in the future. Additionally, eight 3D printers owned by the college have been loaned to produce mask components in Kingston, in an initiative being jointly run by Queen’s University and local health organizations.  

As the college continues talks with the City of Kingston on possible uses of their residence space, Glenn Vollebregt, SLC President and CEO, is pleased the college can help. “Contributing in this essential way speaks to the valuable relationships we have with our partners in health care during this critical time of need. We will do whatever we can to help our frontline healthcare workers stay safe and able to care for those who are in need,” Vollebregt said.