Departments across College of The Albemarle’s (COA) four campus locations answered the call to donate much needed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the local hospitals in the college’s service area. The supplies were collected and delivered over the past week to Outer Banks Hospital, Sentara Albemarle Medical Center and Vidant Chowan Hospital, in an effort to assist the medical personnel in our region who are caring for those who may have been impacted by COVID-19.

A number of programs at COA participated in identifying surplus equipment that could be donated to the local hospitals. Programs included Aviation Systems Technology, Computer Integrated Machining, Culinary Arts, Health Fitness Science, HVAC Technology, Medical Assisting, Medical Laboratory Technology, Nursing (Associate Degree Nursing, Practical Nursing and Nurse Aide), and Surgical Technology. Over 275 boxes of gloves; 1,670 masks (including 150 of the vital N-95 masks); 950 isolation gowns and hundreds of shoe and head coverings, face shields and other protective supplies were gathered for these essential health care facilities in our communities. With each donation, COA staff included an adapted version of the message that the Japanese provided on the boxes of masks that were sent to China during the height of their COVID-19 outbreak: “We may have different rivers and waters, but we share the same sky. Stay safe!”

“These facilities are extremely important to our college as they have always generously supported our health sciences programs in a multitude of ways,” said Robin Harris, Dean of Health Sciences and Wellness Programs. “COA was eager to give back to our health care partners in their time of need and we hope for the continued protection of all their employees, many of them are COA graduates, as they lead the way during this crisis.”