City Furniture is producing and donating 30,000 protective masks to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital to help safeguard patients and families from COVID-19. The donation helps the hospital spare its most critical hospital supplies and offset global resource shortages.
The masks will be used as “walk-around barrier masks” for patients and families to wear in the hallways or common areas of the hospital. Nicklaus Children’s staff anticipate 2,000 masks could be used by patients and families per day, so the City Furniture donation shores up the hospital for at least two weeks.
Seamstresses at City Furniture’s subsidiary, Kevin Charles Fine Upholstery, are producing several thousand masks daily at the company’s New Albany, Mississippi factory. “Each day of this crisis, it’s more overwhelming to see the courage and determination of our region’s healthcare teams,” says City Furniture President Andrew Koenig. “It’s our privilege to be able to help. When we heard Nicklaus Children’s Hospital needed walk-around barrier masks ‘stat,’ the team at Kevin Charles immediately retooled and launched production.”
The first two shipments of masks arrived at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital this week, with more shipments expected next week. The masks are being shipped for free by Southeastern Freight Lines.
“We are so grateful to City Furniture for their initiative using their factory to build masks for patients and families at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital,” says Chad Perlyn, MD, pediatric surgeon and director of operating room at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. “The greatest strength of a city lies in the compassion of its people, and City Furniture’s efforts shows just how strong they are as a corporation and we are as a city. On behalf of the entire team at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, thank you City Furniture!”
Learn more about how Nicklaus Children’s Hospital is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic at www.nicklauschildrens.org/COVID19. For more information on how you can support patients and healthcare workers at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, visit www.nicklauschildren.org/COVID19Fund.
About Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, Where Children Matter Most (2024)
Founded in 1950 by Variety Clubs International, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital is South
Florida’s only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children, with approximately
850 attending physicians, including more than 500 pediatric subspecialists. The 307-bed
hospital is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine with many specialty programs
routinely ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. The
hospital is also home to the largest pediatric teaching program in the southeastern
United States and since 2003 has been designated an American Nurses Credentialing
Center (ANCC) Magnet facility, the nursing profession’s most prestigious institutional
honor. For more information, please visit www.nicklauschildrens.org.