Penn Medicine Ukraine Relief Portal
As the world witnesses daily tragedies linked to the ongoing war in Ukraine, many members of our community have asked how they can help. In addition to fundraising efforts which have already brought in over $150,000 in relief support, we are supporting the World Health Organization (WHO) and Global Response Management (GRM) efforts to provide medical care to those fleeing the region.
Penn Medicine Response:
A central challenge in crises of this magnitude is managing the response such that maximal benefit is provided to the refugees. The World Health Organization (WHO) is defining the current and projected medical needs of Ukrainian refugees, and is working with multiple partners to meet this demand. Respecting this, Penn Medicine has determined to work with the relief-focused NGO, Global Response Management (GRM) who are engaged directly with the WHO to source volunteer medical staff from US hospitals and academic medical centers for deployment in Poland.
Penn’s role is to support this effort by helping identify potential volunteers. Volunteers will then be recommended to GRM for final selection based on the WHO medical priorities. Following selection, Penn will provide transport to/from Poland where as GRM will handle all on-site logistics. We emphasize that Penn Medicine’s participation is currently restricted to Poland: volunteers working under Penn’s program are not permitted to deploy in Ukraine. Please also be advised that relief efforts from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) mirror those conducted at Penn Medicine. This partnership ensures that our collective humanitarian relief efforts maximize resource utilization and care impact.
At this time this is a volunteer response and while costs and travel will be deferred through Penn and GRM, interested individuals will need to arrange time off work with their individual unit leadership.
Who is needed:
We are currently seeking healthcare providers (physicians and nurses), preferably with previous experience in global health, care of refugee populations, military experience or international or disaster response as well providers with ties to the Ukraine or with critical language skills. At this time information is still forthcoming but we anticipate a need for emergency providers and possible support from surgical teams, this followed by medical professionals of all types.
time Commitment:
We are asking for a minimum commitment of 7 consecutive days, though 14 days is preferred. Extended deployment up to 90 days is available. Travel may begin as early as March 20th. The situation is fluid and dates may shift so please provide your widest availability to participate.
Application:
Interested persons should register through this application form. Registering does not guarantee deployment with GRM but will help us a build a bench of interested and available persons. NOTE: If you have any difficulty opening this form, please try again using a personal phone or computer to access it.
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