Donating Medical Equipment: What You Need To Know
If you have medical equipment lying around that you'll have no further use for, you might want to consider donating it to a worthy cause or individual.
It isn't unusual for people to find themselves in need of expensive items such a wheelchairs, hospital beds, oxygen tanks, and so on.
Government health insurance covers the cost of some of these items, but not others.
A patient who finds themselves in this situation may be forced to accept bottom of the line equipment or simply go without what they need.
Individuals and charities around the country are always grateful for donations they receive that match what they need.
With some diligence, you can find a great home for your items.
Start locally.
Look in the newspaper and any local charity directories you might find to see if anyone is looking for medical equipment.
Even if no one is specifically advertising for such, call some likely candidates, explain what you have, and see if they would have any use for it.
You might be surprised to find out how willing clinics and hospitals are to accept anything they can get.
This is particularly true for free clinics, hospice organizations, and other places that try to provide free health care for patients who need it.
Why look locally first? Well, they say charity begins at home, but that's not really why.
The fact is that you will save money and effort by finding a local donation facility.
If you don't have any luck finding a suitable local charity to whom you can donate your medical equipment, don't get discouraged.
If you've talked to a few people and they've told you that no one would have any use for what you have, you might want to give up.
There are, of course, certain types of used equipment that simply won't be able to be used again and you would be better off finding a safe way to dispose of it.
If it's just a matter of there not being enough local need, however, you can always look nationally.
Find some larger charities and inquire about how you would go about donating.
Before you make any decisions about where to give your medical equipment, do at least some basic research about the charity of your choice.
Not all of them were created equally.
Make sure that your donation is going to a good cause and isn't going to sit in a warehouse somewhere for the next ten years.
It isn't unusual for people to find themselves in need of expensive items such a wheelchairs, hospital beds, oxygen tanks, and so on.
Government health insurance covers the cost of some of these items, but not others.
A patient who finds themselves in this situation may be forced to accept bottom of the line equipment or simply go without what they need.
Individuals and charities around the country are always grateful for donations they receive that match what they need.
With some diligence, you can find a great home for your items.
Start locally.
Look in the newspaper and any local charity directories you might find to see if anyone is looking for medical equipment.
Even if no one is specifically advertising for such, call some likely candidates, explain what you have, and see if they would have any use for it.
You might be surprised to find out how willing clinics and hospitals are to accept anything they can get.
This is particularly true for free clinics, hospice organizations, and other places that try to provide free health care for patients who need it.
Why look locally first? Well, they say charity begins at home, but that's not really why.
The fact is that you will save money and effort by finding a local donation facility.
If you don't have any luck finding a suitable local charity to whom you can donate your medical equipment, don't get discouraged.
If you've talked to a few people and they've told you that no one would have any use for what you have, you might want to give up.
There are, of course, certain types of used equipment that simply won't be able to be used again and you would be better off finding a safe way to dispose of it.
If it's just a matter of there not being enough local need, however, you can always look nationally.
Find some larger charities and inquire about how you would go about donating.
Before you make any decisions about where to give your medical equipment, do at least some basic research about the charity of your choice.
Not all of them were created equally.
Make sure that your donation is going to a good cause and isn't going to sit in a warehouse somewhere for the next ten years.