Overview | Our Mission | Our History | Recipient Organizations | Equipment Donors
Enhancing Healthcare for the Poor Worldwide
The American Medical Resources Foundation 
donates refurbished medical equipment to non-military hospitals serving the poor worldwide. AMRF also develops and provides training programs for medical equipment repair technicians and hospital managers responsible for maintenance, repair and calibration of medical equipment.
Equipping Health Care Facilities
Our dedication to improving the health care in needy communities in countries worldwide is supported by equipment donated to AMRF by over 300 hospitals and industries in the US and by many private physicians and dentists. AMRF tests and repairs the equipment it receives to assure that it meets full specification operating performance. The equipment AMRF donates can be supported by readily available spare parts procured either directly from the manufacturer or through AMRF. If the equipment requested is not available by donation, AMRF can generally purchase the equipment for the hospitals and clinics at lower prices than advertised. Since its founding in 1988, AMRF has donated medical equipment worth over $300 million (if valued new at today¹s prices) to over 190 hospitals in 90 countries in Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Asia.
AMRF offers the services of a corps of qualified biomedical engineers and technicians to teach maintenance procedures and assist in setting up maintenance and calibration facilities at the recipient institutions. AMRF provides medical equipment maintenance and repair support by telephone, fax, email, and if necessary, by direct visit. AMRF has also developed medical equipment technician training programs to help recipient hospitals to become self-sufficient. And AMRF offers expert consulting for planning and procurement of medical equipment, water, waste and power systems.”
AMRF donates the medical equipment free, requesting only a small share of the cost to collect, test, refurbish if necessary, warehouse and ship the medical equipment. Sponsors are found to share these costs for equipment donations with AMRF donors. AMRF can also procure at advantageous prices items of medical equipment, which cannot be found on donation for which it charges the acquisition cost. Often the sponsors are the hospitals themselves or the charitable organizations which support the hospitals. Other frequent US sponsors for AMRF donations of medical equipment are Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs, churches, professional organizations, and private individuals.
Equipment donations have included virtually everything that is used by a hospital including beds, patient transports, patient monitors, x-ray, infant warmers, infant transporters, patient handling equipment, pulmonary, cardiac, ultrasonic diagnostic, examination room, dental, office, laboratory, operating room, emergency and other diverse equipment for general and specialized use in prenatal, natal, pediatric and adult departments. Certain types of non-perishable supplies and other items such as surgical gloves, OR setups, catheters and surgical instruments are also donated. AMRF also procures and ships ambulances and facility type equipment such as kitchen, electric power and laundry equipment. Normally, our shipments are by 40 ft or 20 ft ocean transport containers to meet the requests of the applicant hospitals.
We donate the equipment and supplies free and charge only for our costs in collecting, refurbishing, warehousing and shipping. A typical 40x8x8 container of equipment donated will consist of equipment valued at $400,000 – $600,000 (if valued as new at today¹s prices). We request a donation plus ocean freight (usually around $3000 – $5000 depending upon destination) to cover our costs for preparing each 40 ft container. We will advise as to the donation required. We also recommend sending one of our biomedical/clinical engineers to assist the recipient hospital in training in the initial use and maintenance of the equipment as well as to solve any technical problems that might arise after the equipment is received. We request a donation covering the labor and transportation cost of the engineer for this service. The recipient usually provides the board, room and local transportation for the engineer.
On occasion biomedical engineers and technicians from the recipient hospital or its country have served as interns in our Brockton facility, receiving training and experience in medical equipment test, use and maintenance.
Centers of Training and Maintenance
AMRF establishes self-sufficient Centers of Training and Maintenance. These Centers, managed and staffed by local in-country personnel, are equipped by AMRF with modern medical equipment test and calibration facilities that can be shared by groups of hospitals in a region, thereby reducing the costs to each individual hospital to provide the same services. At the same time such Centers provide technical employment and training to local personnel. AMRF establishes centers that
- Train professional personnel in the use and maintenance of modern medical equipment.
- Serve as a center for repair of hospital equipment in the region which will become a self-sufficient revenue producing facility within 1-2 years by providing its services to public and private hospitals and other health care facilities in the region on a profit or non-profit basis.
In addition to improving the health care of the region the centers provide direct employment as well and provide continuing technical education to important elements of the local work force. Generally, these Centers can be established to work within the existing institutional infrastructure such as existing hospitals, universities and vocational schools.
AMRF is an independent non-profit, tax-exempt charity, for the most part staffed by volunteers. AMRF was incorporated in 1988 in the Attorney General¹s Office in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is a tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U. S. Government Internal Revenue Code. It is registered with the U.S. Agency for International Development (US A.I.D., Number A 1781).
Translate this page:
American Medical Resources Foundation 