HOUSTON – Inside a bustling warehouse in Houston, volunteers move with the precision and speed of an automotive assembly line — but the parts they’re packing are not engines or car doors.
They’re syringes, electro-surgical pens, heart monitors, hospital beds and X‑ray machines: the same devices that keep hospitals running in the U.S., repurposed to save lives in places where medical resources are painfully scarce.
Over the past two years Medical Bridges has shipped roughly 500 tons of medical supplies and equipment donated by local hospitals and everyday people. Those donations have been inspected, tested and repaired by technicians and volunteers in Houston, then packed into shipping containers bound for some of the world’s poorest and most crisis‑stricken nations. Today the organization serves more than 100 countries — from Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya to Haiti and Ukraine.
“We shipped last year 58 shipping containers of medical supplies and equipment,” says Walter Ulrich, President & CEO of Medical Bridges. “On average, out of each one of those containers, doctors and nurses were able to do 40,000 treatments.” Those are not abstract numbers — they represent bandages, births, surgeries and life‑saving interventions delivered to patients who otherwise would have little or no access to care.
A mission born of practicality and compassion
Medical Bridges began in 1997 when two Houston physicians, Dr. Patty Brock and Dr. Peggy Goetz, turned a simple idea into a global lifesaving movement: collect expensive medical equipment in the U.S. that is no longer being used and send it where it’s desperately needed.
“We have unfortunately a medical system that creates a lot of waste, things that are brand new and unavailable in many places,” Dr. Peggy Goetz said. “And instead of restocking them, we just throw them away and that’s wrong.” The initiative redirects that waste back into care — transforming discarded or surplus equipment into functioning assets for hospitals and medical clinics lacking basic supplies.
What they send ranges from small but essential items like syringes and surgical instruments to large, complex machines: patient monitors, operating‑room lights, X‑ray units, ultra-scan machines, mobility equipment and hospital beds. Medical Bridges inspects and tests everything, repairing devices so they will work reliably for clinicians abroad.
Real impact in fragile places
At the Centre Hospitalier de Pernier in Haiti, Medical Bridges’ support helped build and equip a new maternity ward. The hospital has celebrated the births of more than 100 babies in the facility — many of whom likely would not have survived without all the birthing equipment sent by Medical Bridges.
“I want to thank Medical Bridges for their providential help they have been providing us, helping us,” said Dr. Julien of the hospital, expressing gratitude on behalf of his staff and patients.
In Ukraine, where more than 1900 hospitals and clinics have been damaged or destroyed during the conflict, Medical Bridges has delivered more than 425 tons of equipment since the war began. One pre-built-fully -outfitted-medical-clinic right now sits in front of a bombed‑out hospital just 30 miles from the border of Ukraine, treating wounded soldiers and civilians right now.
Innovation and partnership: clinics in a box
Beyond refurbished equipment, Medical Bridges partners with Texas A&M students and the student organization BUILD to convert cargo containers into fully built‑out, portable medical clinics. Hundreds of students help install flooring, cabinetry, fixtures and medical equipment, turning an empty steel box into a functioning facility ready to be deployed where there are no nearby hospitals.
“So, we take an empty cargo container and we put in all of the flooring, cabinets, frames and everything to turn it into a fully functioning medical facility,” explains Allyson Bartlett, CEO of BUILD, the Texas A&M student charity that leads the conversion effort.
How you can help
Medical Bridges’ work depends on donations — not only of equipment but of time. There are three simple ways to get involved:
- Donate unused or surplus medical equipment from hospitals, clinics or private practices. Many items that are no longer needed here can become life‑saving tools elsewhere.
- Volunteer at the Medical Bridges warehouse to sort, test and pack supplies for shipment.
- Donate money to Medical Bridges to buy more equipment and pay shipping costs around the world.
For more information and to sign up, just click on the special link provided here that will take you directly to the Medical Bridges website.