Midmark Foundation Provides Grant to the Partnership for Quality Medical Donations

DAYTON, Ohio, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Midmark Corp., a leading provider of medical, dental and veterinary equipment, technology and services, announced that a grant has been provided to the Partnership for Quality Medical Donations (PQMD) by the Midmark Foundation. The grant will support the PQMD initiative to further develop its monitoring, evaluation and metrics project.

Formally known as Collective Impact 2030, a collective of PQMD staff, contractors, members and industry experts are diligently working to develop a series of metrics to better understand the collective impact that the healthcare industry makes when donating medical goods, equipment and services.

Through PQMD, corporations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) work in partnership to bring high-quality donated medicines and supplies to global health programming. These contributions are valued in the billions of US dollars annually and cost tens of thousands to millions of dollars to implement. Donations serve vulnerable populations through ongoing donations, disaster response efforts, single donations and medical mission support thereby focusing on health systems strengthening, disaster response and specific health conditions.

Decision-makers need useful evidence and common metrics about their programs to compare against industry benchmarks to catalyze success and reduce barriers to effective, quality, needed and timely donations. World Health Organization guidelines emphasize the need for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of donation programs; yet, few evaluations assess the outcomes of medical donation programs.

PQMD has embarked on the Collective Impact 2030 Initiative to fill this gap. Working closely with its 42 members, PQMD is developing a shared framework and nurturing shared terminology to establish better and different metrics. The initiative, which began in 2015, has developed the first edition of the PQMD Resource Guide for Evaluating Donated Medicines. Other significant milestones include proof-of-concept site visits, an evaluation plan checklist, an initial set of impact indicators and a publication related to the scope of M&E practices among medical donation programs.     

The initiative, is currently being led by Mitch Eiting, global philanthropic and corporate giving manager for Midmark and president of the Midmark Foundation. Eiting brings over 32 years' experience in corporate donation programs to the PQMD group and has been instrumental in its transformation. Eiting stated, "We are very excited to partner with PQMD and its members on this important initiative. Together, we will be able to provide the necessary tools to healthcare organizations for a more effective donation process.

PQMD Collective Impact 2030 has three goals:

• Develop a suite of technical M&E tools within PQMD's signature Resource Guide for Evaluating Medical Donation Programs to provide practical structure and resources for corporations and NGOs interested in increasing their capacity for donation-specific outcomes tracking.
• Support an active Community of Practice to explore best practices and barriers to effective medical product donations.
• Create a collective impact coalition to identify and utilize shared indicators in donated medical products that reflect a contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Elizabeth Ashbourne, PQMD Executive Director, stated, "The Collective Impact team, working closely with Midmark and other members, is in progress to making great strides in 2019, and we look forward to sharing achievements and milestones in the months ahead. For updates on this project, subscribe to the PQMD monthly newsletter at pqmd.org/communication/.

About Midmark
Midmark Corporation is the only clinical environmental design company that enables a better care experience for the medical, dental and animal health markets. With more than 1,800 teammates worldwide, Midmark focuses on harmonizing clinical space, technology and workflows for caregivers and patients at the point of care. Founded in 1915 and headquartered in the greater Dayton, Ohio, area, Midmark maintains production and administrative offices in Versailles, Ohio, with six other locations in the United States as well as subsidiaries in India, Italy and the United Kingdom. To learn more about Midmark, visit midmark.com.

About The Midmark Foundation
The Midmark Foundation supports organizations involved with education and human services and awards scholarships to children of Midmark employees.

About PQMD
PQMD is a dynamic alliance and global network between nonprofit and corporate organizations leading in the development and championing of guidelines on quality for the donation policies and practices; delivering of urgent care in disaster situations and delivering life-saving products and service to at-risk and chronically underserved populations. The organization's beginnings go back to 1996, when an informal alliance of several non-governmental organizations (NGOs), pharmaceutical companies, and medical device firms joined together to develop guidance regarding medical donations. To learn more, visit http://www.pqmd.org.

SOURCE Midmark Foundation