Staff Report

ROCKFORD –  Starting Wednesday, March 25, SwedishAmerican will begin collecting donated items from the community.

These donations will add to the inventory SwedishAmerican has already built up as part of its preparedness efforts to protect staff as they care for patients with COVID-19 during the coming weeks. 

“We’ve had an outpouring of community interest to donate supplies to help combat COVID-19 and protect our employees,”SwedishAmerican Materials Management Director John Cashmore said. “Due to the critical shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) and disinfecting supplies nationwide, SwedishAmerican is turning to the community for donations of specific new or unused items.” 

SwedishAmerican will accept donations of specific new/unused/unexpired items from businesses and organizations Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the hospital’s State Street entrance, 1401 E. State St., Rockford.

New and unused items that SwedishAmerican will accept include: 

• Face masks (At this time homemade masks are not being accepted.) 
• N95 masks, sometimes called respirators 
• Eye protection, including face shields and unvented goggles 
• Disposable gowns 
• Disposable gloves 
• Wipes: bleach or antimicrobial 
• Hand sanitizer 

SwedishAmerican is also accepting specialized medical equipment items including:  PAPRs (powered air-purifying respirators) and PAPR hoods, nasal testing swabs, and viral testing kits.  Items that list expiration dates must be unexpired. 

SwedishAmerican is not accepting the following items: medication, blankets, toys, clothing or other medical supplies. 

Donations must be dropped off in person. It is essential that no one involved in the creation, distribution or delivery of new/unused materials or homemade masks have any symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath) or have recently been exposed to anyone experiencing these symptoms or who has been tested positive for COVID-19. 

Anyone with questions or needing additional information is urged to email foundation@swedishamerican.org or call 779-696-2496. 

More information about COVID-19 is at swedishamerican.org/Coronavirus.  

 About SwedishAmerican
A division of UW Health, SwedishAmerican is dedicated to providing excellence in health care and compassionate care to the community. The organization serves residents of 12 counties in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin through a dedicated and caring staff, a major acute care hospital and a free-standing outpatient cancer center in Rockford, a medical center in Belvidere, a network of nearly 30 primary care and multi-specialty clinics, and the region’s largest home health care agency.