This company has donated computers, software and COVID tests worth over $1 million to hospitals in Ukraine

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Like many people, Ron Gutman saw war break out in Ukraine and decided he wanted to do something to help. The co-founder and co-CEO of health technology company, Intrivo, sat down with Jessica Abo to share what he does and how you can get involved.

Jessica Abo: Ron, can you start by telling us a bit about your business?

Ron Gutman: Intrivo is a technology company on a mission to bring you health. We were one of the first to obtain special authorization from the FDA to create, sell and provide rapid home COVID tests and have helped millions of people live healthier, safer and happier lives.

How did you bring the COVID tests to Ukraine?

Gutman: Shipping COVID tests all over the world is a big challenge because the regulatory and shipping supply chains are completely broken and getting them into a war zone is almost impossible. We've shipped over a million dollars worth of On/Go COVID-19 tests, so that large number of tests went first to Poland and then to Ukraine. I also made the decision to go with the tests themselves and meet with the hospital leadership, meet the staff and meet the doctors. I wanted to make sure that they were well trained to be able to distribute the tests and provide them with computers and software, because what we gave them is not only a test, but also a means of monitoring epidemics in the trajectory of the epidemic, so that they can act very quickly to ensure that it does not spread throughout the hospitals.

Since your visit to Ukraine until today, how has your mission evolved?

Gutman: When I was there, I really brought back a wish list of a bunch of things that they really need beyond COVID testing, beyond pandemic management, because they don't get help elsewhere. We have these very specific lists that we're looking at now and working with partners to integrate them, to create a care package that we could reverse and go back to Ukraine because, unfortunately, we think this conflict will be a protracted one.

What broke my heart more than anything else, to be honest with you, was going to the children's hospital, going to the neonatology ward and meeting the nurses, to meet the doctors there and see the pressure they had with a premature birth, which I had never thought of. I think of wars, you think of missile wounds and all that sort of thing. You wouldn't think so many pregnant women are under such stress that the percentage of premature babies has skyrocketed. When they had real missile attacks, they had to move the whole neonatology department to the basement, which is unimaginable.

They're running out of equipment there. They lack all sorts of things that have to do with caring for a premature baby. Just before we arrived, when we said, “Well, we'll bring you software,” they said, “We don't really have enough hardware. So we brought laptops with us to Ukraine.

I think those are the kind of little things that if you're a healthcare entrepreneur, a healthcare executive, and you know you can help with some things, let us know. We will go back there. If you have a surplus of something or something that you find easy to contribute, please let us know.