Three Rivers Community College Donates PPE Supplies To Local Hospitals

Three Rivers Community College has donated all of its personal protective equipment supplies to Backus Hospital (Hartford Health Care) and L+M Hospital (Yale New Haven Health) to help with the critical shortage of supplies during the Coronavirus outbreak.

Upon receiving the full support of Three Rivers President Mary Ellen Jukoski, supplies were gathered from both the Nursing program and the Science labs.

Nursing Laboratory Coordinator Denise Cortegiano and Assistant Professor of Nursing Cindy Arpin gathered the supplies from both the Nursing and Allied Health Laboratories. Supplies included 189 PPE gowns, over 2,000 masks, 5,700 gloves, and assorted equipment sanitizer and protective eye gear and caps. The supplies were divided evenly and delivered to each facility by Arpin on Tuesday, March 24. The decision as to where the donations would go was coordinated in a state-wide effort by the CT League for Nursing Deans and Directors. Each School of Nursing partnered with their local clinical affiliates. 

Three Rivers also donated 4,000 additional gloves to Bacchus Hospital that had been supplies for the science labs.

President Mary Ellen Jukoski said, “In these unprecedented times with local hospitals facing shortages, it’s important for Three Rivers to share PPE supplies that would otherwise be sitting in closets while the college is closed. We must all work together during this time to support one another.”

Three Rivers, and all other Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, transitioned to virtual learning as of March 20 for the remainder of the spring semester. College staff is telecommunicating and is available daily to assist with registration by current and future students for the summer and fall semesters.

Assistant Professor of Nursing Cindy Arpin of Three Rivers packed her trunk with PPE supplies from the College and brought them to Baccus Hospital and L+M Hospital. 

Three Rivers Community College is an accessible, affordable, and culturally diverse two-year college located in Norwich, Connecticut, with an off-campus instructional center at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton. Knowing that the educational goals of its students are as diverse as their backgrounds, Three Rivers provides a broad range of credit and non-credit liberal arts, sciences, nursing, engineering, career and technical courses. The student population consists of almost 4,000 enrolled students each semester. To learn more about what Three Rivers has to offer, visit www.threerivers.edu.