Shenandoah University donated three ventilators to Valley Health on Wednesday, April 8.
The ventilators were donated to Shenandoah several years ago by Valley Health to help provide clinical experiences to the university’s nursing and respiratory therapy students. To help in the fight against COVID-19, university officials decided to re-donate the ventilators back to the hospital system.
“It is so beautiful how sometimes good deeds come back to you,” said Shenandoah President Tracy Fitzsimmons, Ph.D. “In this case, Valley Health donated these ventilators to Shenandoah University several years ago. We have used them to enhance our students’ learning, but at this critical time, the school of nursing is pleased to donate these ventilators back to Valley Health to be used to help save lives. It is hard to imagine what we would do in the Northern Shenandoah Valley without our colleagues at Valley Health, and I am so happy for anything Shenandoah can do to help support them.”
The ventilators will help patients suffering with respiratory issues associated with COVID-19.
“As the incidence of COVID-19 increases in our region, Valley Health staff is bracing for an influx of critically ill patients,” said President and CEO of Valley Health Mark H. Merrill. “We welcome the addition of the ventilators to our reserve so we can assist more patients who need breathing support in the days and weeks ahead. We are very grateful for the ongoing support of Shenandoah University, not only with supplies and equipment, but a close, decades-long collaboration that helps prepare students for futures in a variety of healthcare disciplines.”
Last week, the university donated approximately 2,500 hospital masks to Valley Health.
Shenandoah and Valley Health have shared a partnership for nearly 60 years, when the hospital system gave the university its start in the health professions with the development of the nursing program. During the program’s earlier years, Shenandoah’s nursing classes were held in the classrooms of Winchester Memorial Hospital (now Winchester Medical Center).
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