Mercy Hospital Springfield making donations to Ukrainian relief efforts

RELATED

Convoy of Hope assisting Ukrainian refugees

Ukrainian business owners look toward home

Mercy Hospital Springfield is donating more than $130,000 worth of medical supplies and cash toward Ukrainian relief efforts.

The health care system announced in a news release that roughly $106,000 in medical supplies and $25,000 in cash to Convoy of Hope would assist Ukrainian refugees. Convoy of Hope has helped Mercy identify the most-needed medical and surgical supplies, which have been packed and soon will be shipped.

The idea for Mercy to provide assistance started with Alex Limonchenko, a respiratory therapist for the health care system and a native of Ukraine. Now an American citizen, Limonchenko has a sister in the country helping refugees to get to safety from her church in central Ukraine.

"I know what she’s going through, and it’s hard to watch it all on the news,” Limonchenko said. “I thought, ‘I work for a mission-driven ministry,’ and I wondered how we could be part of a concrete effort to help my homeland."

When Limonchenko contacted Mercy leaders, the health care system's strategic supply chain was engaged in partnership with Convoy of Hope, which has been on the ground assisting refugees since Russia's invasion of the country.