St. Joseph Hospital Foundation buys 12 new ventilators thanks to community donations

EUREKA, Calif. (KIEM) — Thanks to generous donations from community groups, the St. Joseph Hospital Foundation purchases 12 new ventilators to treat patients with Covid-19.

Within 72 hours of putting out the call, $420,000 was donated by Women 4 Wellness, Humboldt State University, Wayne and Donna Caldwell, the Schmidbauer family, Lorin and Irene Flyer and Owsley Electric. The new purchase means the hospital now has 38 ventilators on hand.

According to Chief Executive Dr. Roberta Luskin-Hawk M.D., “The ventilators we purchased can support not only Covid patients if they need hospitalization, but also our trauma program, we’re a level 3 trauma center. In our open heart surgery program where patients don’t stay on ventilators long, but need them immediately post operatively, and many other illnesses where intensive care unit ventilator care is needed. They will have broad applicability for years to come.”

According the hospital, a portion of those ventilators are on loan from other care providers and will be returned following the Covid-19 response.