Illinois Providers Donate Ambulance to Ukraine

The Daily Southtown, Tinley Park, Ill.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in late February, some 60 ambulances have been damaged or destroyed in the fighting, according to Serhiy Koledov, consul general of Ukraine in Chicago.

He stood Wednesday next to an ambulance donated by Trace Ambulance Inc. in Tinley Park that will be delivered to Ukraine in the coming weeks.

"I think it is only the beginning of our mutual cooperation," Koledov said.

Working with the consulate general's office, OSF Healthcare and the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America have so far received donations of five ambulances from several states, including Illinois, that have been sent to Ukraine, and two more are on their way.

The Trace ambulance is one of another five ambulances that will be shipped, and expected to be in Ukraine by the middle of July, according to Chris Manson, vice president of government relations for Peoria-based OSF, which operates Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park.

Manson, who was in Ukraine in April and will head back in a few days, said seven ambulances are being disabled or destroyed every day.

"Today we're here to help the people of Ukraine who are facing this devastating humanitarian crisis," Chris Vandenberg, Trace's president, said.

He said the vehicle and much-needed medical supplies it is stocked with, such as portable ventilators and cardiac monitors, have a value of $45,000.

Dr. Maria Hrycelak, president of the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America's foundation, said the organization has been able to secure medical supplies that have been shipped to Ukraine.

"It is fantastic that we have been able to receive these donations," Hrycelak, a pediatrician in Park Ridge. The foundation said it has so far received $1 million worth of donated medical supplies, and that it is focusing on securing medications along with supplies for hospitals in Ukraine.

The Trace ambulance is a 2014 vehicle and the equipment such as the ventilators and cardiac monitors have been replaced by the company with newer equipment, Vandenberg said.

He said he had been talking with Manson about a possible ambulance donation, and Vandenberg said Trace was a victim of supply chain snags, with new ambulances ordered in 2020 just now being delivered. He said he promised that the company would donate an ambulance for Ukraine as soon as it received new vehicles.

Manson said the drive to secure donated ambulances came to him after seeing the devastation in Ukraine, and securing permission from OSF administrators to take on the task.

"I felt a calling to do something," he said. "Everyone across the board has been incredibly helpful. It's been a very uplifting thing to be a part of."

He said ambulance donations have come from municipal fire departments, health systems and ambulance companies, and the Trace donation is the third from Illinois. Other donations have come from Minnesota, North Dakota and Ohio, he said.