Sally, It is actually in the highlighted text below, but I had to restart my computer to make the link work. My internet has been tricky lately. So, try this: https://25438.thankyou4caring.org/donatenow?v=1 From: Sally Eaton Arnold <sallyaeaton@gmail.com> Date: Monday, March 30, 2020 at 1:27 PM To: Ruth Ryals <rryals@comcast.net> Subject: Re: [Porter square] Our Cambridge Hospital Needs Your Support Is there a link for an online donation? Sally Sally Eaton Arnold Cambridge, MA 978-505-3753 SallyAEaton@gmail.com On Mon, Mar 30, 2020 at 1:03 PM Ruth Ryals <rryals@comcast.net> wrote: Dear friends, This is a special request in addition to my daily updates. The Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) is our community's only safety net hospital, and it exists to serve the medical and behavioral needs of everyone and particularly our most vulnerable. By definition, CHA does not turn anyone away who needs care, regardless of their income or their immigration status. CHA has the highest concentration of patients participating in public health insurance programs of any acute hospital in the state, with 57% of its patients on public health insurance. I have always been a grateful champion (and patient since before I could walk) of CHA. I have always felt proud that access to some of the best healthcare in the country could be found right here, at the Cambridge Health Alliance. CHA is very much at the heart of the COVID-19 public health crisis. The herculean efforts of their nurses, doctors, physician assistants, custodians, safety personnel, and others continue at great ris k to their own wellbeing and wholly in the interest of caring for those impacted by the epidemic. The hospital also bypassed a lack of federal direction early on to contract with a company and set up a drive-through testing facility in Somerville. There is a plan in place to expand testing two other sites as soon as the state can help secure the essential equipment and parts needed to conduct tests and process them. And I can tell you firsthand that CHA has also been working to try and secure these resources while seamlessly transitioning to an emergency response operation. Like all of our healthcare facilities across the state, CHA continues to need personal protective equipment (PPE) and has an open call for donations. However, and, again like so many places in Massachusetts, our hospital is also in need of financial donations. I name this ask with the greatest regard for the economic insecurity so many of us are facing at this time. And ideally, the federal government should have been prepared and responsive to our state's needs over the past three weeks. Instead, we have seen multiple instances of the federal government outbidding our requests for essential equipment or failing to fully complete our order requests. So I ask, in these unprecedented times, for those that can-either on behalf of yourself or your local (Cambridge/Somerville/Everett) company or organization-to consider making a donation to CHA. Anything you can give would help underwrite the cost of this crisis on a safety net system that is traditionally operates on the margins. Your donation will allow the CHA to continue to look for PPE and other essential equipment, to continue testing, to process these tests quicker, and to do the important work of saving lives, including the hospital's front-line workers. As state testing continue to ramps up, more cases will be confirmed and more people will need to be hospitalized. Resources and funding are needed now. I am grateful to live in a state and community that has a proven history of responding to crises with innovative responses and determination. We share a belief in the collective vision of all boats rising together. CHA stands as an emblem of this vision, and I am hopeful that we can support the hospital and each other during this time. Please be safe and well, Marjorie Friends of Marjorie DeckerP.O.Box 390431Cambridge, MA
