Usable supplies thrown away by U.S. hospitals get sent to other countries
Through four warehouses in Maine, the nonprofit group Partners for World Health collects unused medical equipment and supplies from U.S. hospitals and ship them to hospitals across the world.
According to a new ProPublica investigation, the operation shows a large amount of waste in healthcare can be attributed to throwing away perfectly good supplies. Some which are inexpensive individually, like catheters which cost $1.33 each, to higher-priced items like $189 surgical staplers—all unopened and unexpired, yet tossed out by hospitals.
“This is money,” said Elizabeth McLellan, RN, MPH, the founders of Partners for World Health. “This is one of the reasons why your health insurance is so expensive.”
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.