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July 5, 2025

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Health Health Notes

UMMS Donates $4.6 Million Worth of Lifesaving COVID-19 Equipment and Supplies to Southeast Asia

May 29, 2021 by UM Shore Regional Health

The University of Maryland Medical System is donating more than 200 pallets of lifesaving COVID-19 equipment and supplies valued at more than $4.6 million to countries in Southeast Asia, including India and Sri Lanka, where the current pandemic conditions are much worse than in the United States. The items being donated, all of which was purchased by UMMS during the 13-hospital System’s COVID response, includes ventilators, masks, gloves, gowns, sanitizer, CPAP machines, oxygen concentrators and stethoscopes.

“Every day, we look at how we can provide medical care and address the needs of communities beyond the four walls of our hospitals,” said Mohan Suntha, MD, MBA, President and CEO of UMMS.  “In this case, we are going way beyond our communities, to nations who are in desperate need of equipment and supplies to help save lives and control the pandemic. Team members from our hospital and campus communities encouraged us to consider a donation, which shows the character of our staff and their dedication to caring for those in need.”

During the first few months of the pandemic, the supply chain for products related to the COVID-19 pandemic was severely impacted, which created worldwide shortages of many items such as PPE, ventilators, COVID tests, and other supplies. UMMS made a strong commitment to its patients and workforce not to be in the position many other health systems were experiencing, and the System engaged in a worldwide sourcing effort to acquire necessary products.

“These items were purchased at a time when the supply markets were very unstable, and we were focused on securing as much equipment and PPE as possible to ensure we were ready,” said Patrick Vizzard, Vice President of Supply Chain Management for UMMS. “Now, 16 months into the pandemic, supply lines have become more open in the United States healthcare market. While the pandemic still continues across the planet, various countries are struggling to achieve necessary levels of care to combat COVID, and we’ve decided to donate excess supplies to help with the needs of less fortunate countries.”

UMMS is working with Project C.U.R.E. (https://projectcure.org/), the world’s largest distributor of donated medical equipment and supplies to resource-limited communities across the globe, and with the International Medical Health Organization (https://theimho.org/), a grassroots global health nonprofit organization that seeks to improve and develop healthcare services and infrastructure in under-served regions worldwide, on the logistics to transport the items from Maryland.

“Project C.U.R.E. is extremely grateful to UMMS for their generous support of our work to provide critically needed supplies,” said Douglas Jackson, PhD, JD, President and CEO. “These are unprecedented times, and the demand for medical relief has never been greater. Certainly, Project C.U.R.E. could not accomplish our work without the partnership of compassionate, determined organizations like UMMS.”

“We are most thankful to the University of Maryland Medical System for their very generous donation of much needed life support equipment to be used in the hospitals of Sri Lanka for COVID patient care,” said Kanaga N. Sena, MD, Vice President of the International Medical Health Organization.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is a university-based regional health care system focused on serving the health care needs of Maryland, bringing innovation, discovery and research to the care we provide and educating the state’s future physician and health care professionals through our partnership with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore professional schools (Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work and Dentistry) in Baltimore. As one of the largest private employers in the State, the health system’s more than 29,500 employees and 4,000 affiliated physicians provide primary and specialty care in more than 150 locations, including 13 hospitals and 9 University of Maryland Urgent Care centers. The UMMS flagship academic campus, the University of Maryland Medical Center in downtown Baltimore, is recognized regionally and nationally for excellence and innovation in specialized care.  Our acute care and specialty rehabilitation hospitals serve urban, suburban and rural communities and are located in 13 counties across the State. For more information, visit www.umms.org.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Health Notes Tagged With: Health, local news, University of Maryland Medical System

In Wake of Scandal, UMMS Embraces Ethics Reforms, Lawmakers Are Told

October 29, 2020 by Maryland Matters

More than a year after a conflict of interest scandal led to the resignation of top officials — and the mayor of Baltimore — the University of Maryland Medical System is “a new organization in a new place,” agency leaders told state lawmakers on Wednesday.

During a briefing for a House panel, a trio of officials laid out the steps the system has taken to bring in new leadership, prevent board member conflicts of interest, and empower lower-level staff to serve as potential whistleblowers.

The reforms the 13-hospital system has adopted follow the 2019 scandal that resulted in the resignation of UMMS’ president and CEO and several board members, including Mayor Catherine E. Pugh (D). She stepped down from the board and her municipal post — and is now serving a prison sentence — after being convicted of fraud regarding sales of a self-published children’s book.

“We have evolved quite a lot,” said Donna Jacobs, UMMS’ head of government affairs. “We certainly have now a very engaged and committed board, responsible and responsive to conflict of interest issues and considerations.”

Jacobs said the system has adopted all 24 recommendations for structural and internal reform crafted by the General Assembly’s Office of Legislative Audits. In addition, the system has a new conflict of interest policy and training requirement for board members.

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) and legislative leaders slammed UMMS leaders last year following media reports that board members, including some who had served for many years, had lucrative contracts with the system.

Chief Compliance Officer Lisa Adkins, a new hire, told lawmakers the system is committed to a “culture of compliance” throughout the 28,000-employee organization. A whistleblower hotline has been established for workers who want to raise a concern anonymously.

“Part of building that culture of compliance is also making sure that our employees feel comfortable in raising their hand and letting us know if they have a concern or they see something amiss or a concern that they would like to have addressed,” she said.

UMMS’ new general counsel, Aaron Rabinowitz, noted that the president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital just resigned from the board of pharmaceutical giant Moderna, a company working on a potential COVID-19 vaccine, to avoid even the appearance of a conflict.

When those things happen, he said, UMMS reviews its policies. “Just because it didn’t happen here doesn’t mean it couldn’t,” Rabinowitz said. “So we’re constantly learning and trying to make sure we’re doing whatever would be considered best in class.”

By Bruce DePuyt

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Health Lead Tagged With: compliance, conflict of interest, Ethics, Health, reform, umms, University of Maryland Medical System, whistleblower

Univ. of Md. Medical System to Postpone Elective Procedures

March 16, 2020 by Spy Desk

The University of Maryland Medical System/University of Maryland Baltimore, in coordination with Johns Hopkins Health System, is postponing all elective, non-emergent procedures, beginning Wednesday, March 18, and continuing for a two-week period until April 1, as part of the system’s COVID-19 response to managing a potential increase in patient volume. This action is designed to provide additional capacity for UMMS hospitals to treat those patients in greatest need.

“Consistent with our priority to protect our patients and staff, our decision is guided by the need to minimize the risk of exposing surgical patients to COVID-19, minimize the potential for high-risk exposure to surgical and peri-operative staff from unrecognized and asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19, minimize risk within the hospital environment from potential exposure consistent with social distancing principles, and ensure adequate availability of supplies and equipment that can be redirected to the care of COVID-19 patients,” said Dr. David Marcozzi, UMMS COVID-19 Incident Commander. “This is a rapidly-changing dynamic and we need to plan ahead. Emergent and urgent procedures as defined by a patient’s care team that are necessary for a patient’s health and time sensitive will continue.”

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Health Lead Tagged With: Covid-19, elective, Health, University of Maryland Medical System

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