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Mundelein-based Medline sends exam gloves to help in Ebola relief effort

A story that ran in some editions of the Sept. 10 Daily Herald regarding a contribution by Mundelein-based Medline Industries Inc. to an Ebola relief effort contained incorrect information. Medline donated 360,000 exam gloves to Colorado-based Project CURE, a charitable organization leading an effort to send medical supplies to West Africa to help combat the virus.

Mundelein-based Medline Industries Inc. is among the partners contributing needed supplies for the ongoing fight against the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

The manufacturer and distributor of health care supplies has delivered four full-sized pallets stacked eight feet high with boxes of exam gloves to assist in the mission.

"They are absolutely one of the most generous donors at this point. So far, they've sent us 360,0000 pairs of gloves," said Jan Mazotti, spokeswoman for Project CURE (Commission on Urgent Relief and Equipment), a Colorado-based charitable organization that operates in 132 countries and is leading an Ebola outbreak response.

There has been a surge in Ebola infections putting health workers at risk, and the organization is shipping caps, masks, goggles, coveralls and gloves - everything "from head to toe," Mazotti said. Volunteers at the organization's distribution center in Denver on Tuesday assembled infection prevention kits, including exam gloves, face masks and duct tape to seal health workers suits, to be sent to Liberia.

"The gloves are huge," she added, because workers are washing and reusing the gloves they have.

Medline's contributions will be distributed to hospitals in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

"Right now, we're working on all of the countries that have been affected by Ebola," Mazotti said. That list is up to about a half dozen, she added. The outbreak is thought to have killed more than 2,200 people and sickened about 4,200.

Medline has had a long-standing relationship with the charitable organization that has provided grants and supplies for various areas of the world over the years.

"We knew they were already shipping supplies to West Africa and we could partner with them on this important mission to get our critical supplies to the areas in most need," said Paul Lishnevsky, Medline's division president for exam gloves.

"As we were monitoring the Ebola crisis, we saw that exam gloves were on the list of critical supplies needed for the affected areas. We took inventory of our supply and reached out to Project CURE to determine the best way to provide gloves to areas that might be difficult for others to reach."

The gloves came from Medline's Oklahoma City distribution center.

A pallet of exam gloves from Mundelein-based Medline Industries Inc. are ready for shipment to Sierra Leone as part of a relief project to combat the Ebola virus Photo courtesy of Project CURE
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