News

Foundation Care Donates Hand Sanitizer to First Responders

Date: 05/01/2020

two members of the team wearing scrubs and face masks

To support the community during the COVID-19 pandemic, Foundation Care specialty pharmacy recently produced and donated hundreds of bottles of hand sanitizer to the St. Louis Emergency Operations Center, a network of first responders.

In late January, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the ability for pharmacies to produce over-the-counter (OTC) hand sanitizers. With friends and family members serving as firefighters, the Foundation Care team has a deep understanding of the challenges facing first responders. The team quickly identified a crucial need for this product locally and began sourcing the key ingredient, isopropyl alcohol, which is in limited supply worldwide.

Once the isopropyl alcohol was received, a few of Foundation Care’s compounding pharmacy team, including pharmacists Brittney Lager and Julie Kopinski, and compounding technician Stefanie Manion, volunteered their time to produce a first round of 200 hand sanitizer bottles. The bottles were picked up on April 21 by a member of the St. Louis Emergency Operations Center, addressing a major shortage for these types of products.

“We’re grateful to have the opportunity to support our local first responders during this difficult time,” said Brittney Lager, PharmD, FMNM, ABAAHP, CSP. “With this effort, we can impact the COVID-19 crisis in a meaningful way.”

Foundation Care continues to produce hand sanitizer with a second batch currently in the works.

“We will keep producing sanitizer to help protect our community,” said Brittney. “We’re in this together, and Foundation Care is committed to finding innovative ways to meet these challenging times head on.”