CLOSA, MedFamily and COVID-19

Kathy He

CLOSA President

When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit Australia, there was a critical shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), including face masks and gowns, at many hospitals around the country. PPE is vital for protecting medical professionals and their patients from contracting the virus.

MedFamily was founded by a group of Chinese Australians who care deeply about protecting medical workers on the frontline of the pandemic – to protect them is to protect us all. Members work voluntarily, use their own resources, and are dedicated to fighting COVID-19.

The Carey Local and Overseas Student Association (CLOSA) parents group is an active supporter and contributor to MedFamily, and a number of CLOSA parents are MedFamily members.

Through CLOSA, many Carey families substantially contributed to MedFamily’s work. Along with the tireless efforts of the MedFamily volunteers and other contributing organisations, this generosity enabled MedFamily to donate over $360,000 of high-quality PPE to over 20 hospitals in Victoria and New South Wales this year.

Dr Stephen Warrillow, Director of Intensive Care, Austin Health (pictured with CLOSA President, Kathy He, and Carey teacher Sharon Rong in April), wrote to express his thanks:

‘The ICU at Austin Health is extremely grateful for the support we received from CLOSA and MedFamily. Having access to high-quality PPE is essential to the work of our clinical team as they care for critically ill COVID-19 patients.

‘It is inspiring that, even through these most challenging of times when many in society are facing considerable hardship, MedFamily and CLOSA are able to recognise the essential work we do in ICU and work together for the benefit of the whole community.’