Doctor Seeks Donations Of iPads and Smartphones To Help Isolated Patients Speak With Loved Ones

Dr. Valerie Mayuga, who sees patients at three Chicago hospitals, including Thorek Hospital in Uptown, is seeking donations of wi-fi compatible tablets, iPads, and other devices that will allow patients to see and speak with their families.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, visitors are not allowed to see their loved ones in hospitals, and this gives both the patients and their families a chance to see one another, and in some cases, to say good-bye.

On Instagram, Dr. Mayuga posted:

"My birthday is coming up in a month, but this can’t wait. 

Inspired by another MD in NYC, as a Primary Care Physician, I would like to raise 100 IPADs/TABLETS with chargers to donate to any of the three hospitals I go to here in Chicago that have been hit hard with COVID19 — AMITA St Mary’s and Elizabeth Medical Center (where I also trained as a resident and now work as an attending), Thorek Memorial Hospital and Norwegian American Hospital. 

All our patients here die alone because no family/visitors are allowed in. We scramble to have their families see them one last time before they take their last breaths through facetime or skype or zoom but with everyone being too busy and because we’re also short staffed in most places, it doesn’t always happen. 

So patients die by themselves and families are left with a phone call after the fact. And most are nursing home patients who have given up their social security checks to the nursing homes they have originally come from before getting sent to the hospital and are left with hardly anything, much less a smart phone/tablet. They hardly have anything.

Sometimes they don’t have anyone.

Can you imagine dying alone? I can’t. I don’t want to.

So if you have any used IPADs / tablets (with chargers) that you don’t use anymore, or know individuals who would like to help us connect these patients here in the Chicago area with their loved ones, clear your device’s memory, send it over and feel free to message or DM me with any questions.
My address to send it to: 222 East Pearson St, Chicago Il 60611.

Happy Birthday to me? Send me a tablet and don’t forget the charger!"

.You can read about Dr. Mayuga on Block Club Chicago.