Medical Equipment Bank Thriving at Visiting Nurses

July 05--The nonprofit Visiting Nurses Foundation is seeing success in the offering of a new service that allows elderly and injured residents around Lewis County to receive medical equipment free of charge.

The Visiting Nurses Thrift Shop in Centralia opened a Durable Medical Equipment Bank in January. It offers free wheelchairs, walkers, shower and bath transfer chairs and other medical equipment.

So far, nearly 600 people have been helped, according to Visiting Nurses Executive Director Jenny Collins.

"It's life changing. It's really positive," Collins said. "We just didn't know how well it was going to take off."

Some of the equipment is donated to Visiting Nurses, while other pieces are purchased by the nonprofit. People often take the equipment and return it when they are done using it, Collins said.

"The most important part is making sure all of this equipment is safe," Collins said. "It's cleaned up and made sure it's working properly."

The new medical equipment bank, open seven days per week, is the only one in Lewis County.

By having the bank, Visiting Nurses qualifies for grants it would not otherwise be qualified for, Collins said. The nonprofit was recently awarded a $1,000 grant from the All State Foundation. The funds will help stock the medical equipment bank.

Donna Webb, of Glenoma, came to the medical equipment bank on Tuesday to pick up a wheelchair for her 90-year-old mother, Millie Conser.

Webb said her mother's health insurance will not cover the expense of a wheelchair, so she decided to make the trip from Glenoma to Centralia for a free wheelchair.

"She has a walker to do physical therapy to keep her muscles going, but because she has a walker, they won't give her a wheelchair," Webb said. "They are turning people down left and right for medical procedures and special equipment."

Collins said the bank has become a benefit to Lewis County residents such as Webb.

"There are so many people right now that are in financial situations where they have to make a decision about whether they are going to keep their electricity on or buy food or buy a shower transfer chair," Collins said. "We don't want them to make those decisions. We want them to benefit from what we have here."

With the success of the medical equipment bank in Centralia, Collins said, Visiting Nurses is planning to expand the service to other communities.

Last week, a "Stuff the Truck" fundraiser was held in Moses Lake to raise funds for a medical equipment bank at Assured Home Health and Hospice, a partner agency with Visiting Nurses.

"We are looking at doing this in other communities. If everything goes as planned, we are hoping to start giving out medical equipment in Moses Lake," Collins said.

Collins said the medical equipment bank falls in line with the Visiting Nurses Foundation's mission of assisting Assured Home Health and Hospice patients and their families in Lewis, Thurston, Jefferson, Clallam and Mason counties.

"They are so thankful they are getting a shower chair or a walker for way less than they would have to purchase it for," Collins said.

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