Our Charity to Buy Beds for COVID-19 Patients

The board of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Foundation decided to make an emergency purchase of hospital beds to support the national healthcare system in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic in Poland. Beds will be donated to hospitals tasked with creating wards for COVID-19 patients from scratch. It is often the case that beds are moved from other parts of the hospital, disrupting the ongoing treatment of other patients, causing chaos, discomfort, and endangering the recovery process. We have been informed of the fact that the beds our charity has donated to the most under-equipped wards, such as geriatric and psychiatric units, were moved to COVID-19 wards. 

Just a few weeks ago we aimed to stop the process of moving the beds we have donated from the wards they were intended for. We appealed for people to intervene and to keep the equipment where it was supposed to serve some of the most vulnerable patients in the system - the elderly, the children and young people struggling with mental health issues. These wards keep on their good work despite the pandemic. Patients receive treatment there as well! If your hospital has been tasked with establishing an emergency COVID-19 ward - please get in touch with the information on how many beds you'd need. We will buy and donate them.  

- Jurek Owsiak, chairman of the board of the Foundation 

The medical department has entered into negotiations with local manufacturers of hospital furniture. Relying on Polish manufacturers will allow us to make the purchase and delivery of beds quicker. 

To request beds for the new COVID-19 beds, the hospital officials need to send information regarding the numbers of beds they require and a scanned document confirming they have been chosen to establish the ward. We will then purchase and donate beds accordingly. 

Friends, 

The current situation in Poland is tough. I want to address you with an important message, but first I'd like to ask how you are doing? How's your health? I am currently in quarantine and self-isolating with my wife. I want to take this opportunity to thank all medics and healthcare workers who work tirelessly, who fight for our health and our lives. I want to send my thanks to all the staff at all Polish hospitals, where the situation is deteriorating quickly. I want to thank all the frontline medical staff and paramedics. I have just read an open letter from one of them today, detailing how they struggle to pull through each day. I want to thank all laboratory personnel, who are working at their top capacity and to all staff at the sanitary-epidemiological stations working to coordinate all quarantine and self-isolating procedures for all citizens infected with coronavirus, or awaiting their testing results. I want to thank police officers, who work hard to ensure that all regulations are followed to the letter. I want to thank for all messages of support, all messages with offers of help. It's crucial to feel supported and cared for. Times are tough, so I'd like to thank all people who work together to create a civic society - by taking to the streets, showing their stance. I'm cheering for you; I am cheering. For everyone creating a society that expresses its opinion, that shows respect and enters into a democratic discourse. 

And now for that important message I have for you. We have been hearing that hospitals across Poland are requested to create wards for patients with COVID-19 from scratch. Hospitals need to find beds, equipment to create brand new hospital units. Hospitals resort to moving the equipment and beds from other wards. We receive signals that it's often the equipment we donated. Just a few weeks ago we aimed to stop the process of moving the beds we have donated from the wards they were intended for. We appealed for people to intervene and to keep the equipment where it was supposed to serve some of the most vulnerable patients in the system - the elderly, the children and young people struggling with mental health issues. These wards keep on their good work despite the pandemic. Patients receive treatment there as well! However, the circumstances have changed. "All hands on deck", indeed! We used this motto to promote the objective of our Grand Finale, and we have managed to use the funds to support Polish healthcare. Let us repeat this motto! We implore you - hospital administrators and managers - if your hospital received a request to open a COVID-19 unit, please let us know how many beds you need to make it happen. We will buy these beds. Please don't move beds from other wards. We have reached out to Polish manufacturers, who sold us thousands of beds already. We can buy and deliver them at very short notice. Please don't interfere with the work of other wards; please get in touch with us. We require you to inform us how many beds you need to open the COVID-19 ward, and we also need documents proving that the Ministry gave you this task. All hands on deck! We are not launching any extra fundraising efforts; we are going to use the money we have in our accounts to help. We want to offer our support, be with you in this challenging time. 

I want to extend my warmest greetings to all Poles. I think it's one crucial part of all speeches currently addressed to you. We want to send some warmth and friendship your way. We have so much love for all of you, straight from our hearts. We wish you well; we wish you good health, keep looking after each other. Keep being brave, because it's so important. 

Dear friends of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, dear friends of Poland. Please support us! Please be with us in this - despite it all - joyous moment, when we strive for our right to be ourselves. We fight for the right to show that we are creating this world, and we can make decisions for ourselves. I am sending my warmest greetings your way. Please join us at the Grand Finale fundraiser on January 10th, 2021! We will overcome! We will win. Do you know why? Because we do what we do from our hearts! 

- Jurek Owsiak