Donate $5,000 Worth of Medical Goods : Hospitals in County Give Aid for El Salvador

An estimated $5,000 in emergency medical supplies was donated Wednesday by Orange County hospitals to help El Salvador’s earthquake victims, according to volunteer relief officials in Los Angeles, who said the supplies constituted the largest medical gift for the disaster in the county to date.

The supplies were given to Operation California, a private, nonprofit relief organization based in Los Angeles that is coordinating its efforts with another private relief group, Medical Aid to El Salvador in Los Angeles. The supplies are to be flown to El Salvador Saturday aboard a donated jet transport, said an Operation California spokesman.

Robert Young, director of pharmacy at St. Jude Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in Fullerton, said the center donated antibiotics and painkillers because it was the “natural thing to do.”

“After all, our mission at the hospital really extends beyond the four walls of the building here and, actually, beyond the United States.”

Joined Other Hospitals

St. Jude joined with St. Joseph Hospital in Orange and Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach in donating the supplies at the request of Operation California.

When Operation California first requested supplies from St. Joseph Hospital, an administrator immediately said the hospital would provide twice the amount requested, said Dennis Gaschen, a hospital spokesman.

St. Joseph provided $1,200 in medical supplies, including antibiotics, pain medication and intravenous fluids, Gaschen said. Another $3,500 was donated in gauzes, bandages and intravenous tubing, he said.

The shipment was taken to a Los Angeles warehouse Wednesday by Denis Garvey, a member of Concern, a Santa Ana-based hunger-relief and development organization that coordinated the Orange County medical effort.

Shipment Set Saturday

The supplies are to be shipped to El Salvador Saturday in a plane being provided by Federal Express.

Neil Frame, a spokesman for Operation California in Los Angeles, said more medical supplies are needed.

He said Saturday’s planeload will be consigned to Catholic Relief Services, the social service arm of the Conference of U.S. Catholic Bishops, which will distribute the supplies in El Salvador.

Garvey said Concern is seeking donations to help the earthquake victims. Those who want to contribute can make checks payable to Concern and earmark them “Aid to El Salvador.” The address is 2024 N. Broadway, Suite 210, P.O. Box 1790, Santa Ana 92702.

For those wishing to contribute canned food, clothing and blankets, a donation center has been established at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church at 541 E. Central Ave., Santa Ana.