Page 8 - 2020 annual report

Carl Garcia, the owner of Carl’s Collision Center in Fall River, donated his own company’s supply of N95 masks, and used the industrial gloves, respirators, and other items he had on hand to barter for more masks.
“The world had turned upside down,” he says. “You couldn’t buy an N95 mask for money,
but companies would trade for them.”
A generous Annual Fund supporter, Joe Nauman put Southcoast Health President and CEO Keith Hovan in touch with the Acushnet Company, where Nauman retired as executive vice president and general counsel in 2017.
The Acushnet Company quickly donated 70,000 masks that employees use in the golf ball plants, and then arranged for Southcoast to tap the manufacturer’s Asian
supply chain, complete with translators, when Southcoast’s traditional PPE suppliers struggled with intense demand.
Nauman also worked with the One SouthCoast Chamber, the New Bedford Economic Development Council, and the New Bedford Regeneration Committee to spread the word to businesses about the PPE need.
“We were given donations of PPE for the housekeeping staff, and along with that was a message of gratitude, thanking us, and my staff and I were greatly appreciative of the gesture. It was nice to feel recognized and appreciated by the community.”
AMANDA VIERLING | Team Lead – Housekeeping | St. Luke’s Hospital, New Bedford, MA
“Our whole industry changed overnight. No one wanted to be wearing an N95 mask when a health care worker was going without. That really shows you what the South Coast region is.”
CARL GARCIA | Carl’s Collision Center | Fall River, MA
6 Southcoast Health | 2020 Annual Report of Philanthropy