For our front-line heroes

School shares protective gear with workers battling COVID-19 in two Texas cities

April 30, 2020 | by Kathleen Green Pothier

Texas A&M College of Dentistry’s community outreach kicked into high gear as calls for protective gear came from the front lines of those battling COVID-19.

When Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in College Station queried Texas A&M Health Science Center if any of its schools had supplies, the College of Dentistry in Dallas stepped up. Essential staff member Marvin Vance in the college’s shipping and receiving department scanned the college’s inventory and identified 40-plus cases of PPE gowns—that’s more than 4,000—and loaded them up for delivery to College Station. BSW agreed to replenish the dental school’s supply later when supplies are more readily available.

Hand sanitizers like these were donated to the Dallas Police Department.

“We are so grateful for the supplies and the support from Texas A&M College of Dentistry,” says Jason Jennings, regional president, Baylor Scott & White, College Station. “We are humbled with the acts of kindness from our community and the innovation and creativity to find solutions that help our patients and staff battle COVID. We truly believe as we continue navigating COVID together, the support of our neighbors and friends will help see us through.”

While checking dental school inventory, faculty and staff also discovered some disposable supplies that would most likely have expired before students returned to campus and clinics opened for non-emergency patients. With that, the items were donated to the Dallas Police Department for immediate use, including 100 individual-size hand sanitizers from the College of Dentistry’s communications office.