Gov. Larry Hogan announced Monday that the Maryland Department of Health donated 50 ventilators to Ukraine to help hospitals treat the wounded during Russia’s invasion.
The Republican governor said the Astral portable ventilators were donated to the Paul Chester Children’s Hope Foundation — a Dickerson-based grassroots medical organization that provides surgical care to people in developing countries.
“The State of Maryland continues to stand in solidarity with President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine,” Hogan said in a news release. “We are proud to make this donation to help save lives and aid the Ukrainians in the fight against Russian aggression.”
Russia’s war in Ukraine, now in its 26th day, shows no signs of abating. The invasion has wreaked devastation and destruction, exacting a heavy toll on civilians. The U.N. says nearly 3.4 million people have fled Ukraine. Since the start, the U.N. human rights office recorded 925 civilians killed and 1,496 injured. Thousands of Russians have also died.
The Maryland Department of General Services helped sort the logistics of transporting the ventilators, which are leaving the country Monday and expected to arrive at front line hospitals throughout Ukraine later in the week.
Maryland Secretary of Health Dennis R. Schrader said in a statement that donating medical equipment was “the least we can do.”
Dr. William Chester, PCCHF co-founder, thanked the elected officials for the donation.
“Without the help of truly dedicated individuals in the state and the assistance of the Maryland Society of Anesthesiologists, this would not have been possible,” Chester said in a statement. “These ventilators will save lives during and after this terrible, senseless crisis.”
