A new center aimed at galvanizing Atlanta’s private sector and medical ecosystem to meet pressing challenges in global health is putting its network to work for an immediate need: donating medical masks to local schools and nonprofits.
Atlanta’s Global Health Crisis Coordination Center, or GHC3,has so far spurred the donation of 421,900 masks, just over 40 percent of its million-mask goal.
About a third of those came from Bank of America, a partner on the initiative, but the center is asking other local businesses to step up and contribute to an effort its leaders say will help address inequities in health system as the metro area fights COVID-19.
The Metro Atlanta Chamber is also behind the Get Georgia Well initiative aimed at stopping the spread of coronavirus in the state. To donate or to learn how to receive mask donations, email the chamber at maskdonations@macoc.com.
The mask project is the latest way the GHC3 is building on its goal of bringing together stakeholders to avoid duplicative efforts while growing Atlanta’s international profile in global health. Funded by $1 million from the CDC Foundation and Microsoft, the center’s launched was sped up earlier this year amid the pandemic.
More recently, it helped facilitate the creation of a pilot virtual platform to connect patients and physicians for treatment, monitoring and data sharing, with input from international companies and funding from Dell.
Ken Berta, the GHC3 executive director, recently explained some of the rationale for the center in a discussion facilitated by the Pendleton Group and Global Atlanta:
