University Hospitals and PCs for People Team Up to Help Patients Stay Connected

CLEVELAND – University Hospitals and PCs for People are expanding their collaboration to help patients and their families stay connected. PCs for People will donate 500 laptop computers, 500 hotspots, and three months of broadband service to UH patients meeting certain criteria. The pilot program will launch at the UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Ahuja Center for Women & Children in MidTown this month. This will be PCs for People’s first program launch with a health care organization.

University Hospitals donates its used desktop and laptop computers to PCs for People for recycling and refurbishing. Last month, as part of a statewide effort to decrease the digital divide, UH announced it will host a PCs for People cellular repeater on a patient tower at UH Cleveland Medical Center for more robust internet and cellular access for the community.

With the pandemic, UH experienced a 3,000% increase in virtual patient visits (from 11,000 in 2019 to more than 400,000 in 2020). However, the virtual option was not accessible to many families the health system serves. This led to UH and PCs for People teaming on a solution to provide patients with the resources they need to connect virtually with their health care provider.

“We know many of our patients do not have proper access to the resources and technology required for our expanding telehealth options,” says Brian D’Anza, MD, Medical Director of Telehealth at UH. “It is critical to think of the patient’s well-being beyond the walls of a doctor’s office; this includes social determinants of health such as digital connectivity which a program like this one will help to address.”

The initiative will be coordinated through Rainbow Connects, a program based at the UH Rainbow Ahuja Center for Women & Children that links patients and families to valuable community resources. Patients will complete a simple survey and present their Medicaid card to receive a laptop and hotspot. At the conclusion of the three month broadband service, patients will have the option to continue internet access through PCs for People for $15/month.

“Impactful partnerships like this are why we exist,” said Casey Sorensen, CEO at PCs for People. “The lack of access to digital devices and internet impacts almost every aspect of a person’s life, from healthcare to education to employment. We are proud to partner with UH to serve their patients and be part of the solution for better health and better lives for these individuals.”

The program will be evaluated after six months, with the goal to launch similar programs at additional UH patient locations.

Founded in 2008 in St. Paul, Minnesota, PCs for People works with more than 1,500 electronics recycling partners nationwide. To date, the organization has provided refurbished computers to more than 300,000 people, connected more than 120,000 households to low-cost internet, and diverted 8 million pounds of e-waste from landfills.