Dr. Suzanne Abkowitz is a hospitalist at Anna Jaques Hospital, as well as a beloved member and coordinator for International Medical Equipment Collaboration.
IMEC is a nonprofit organization in North Andover that sends quality used, donated medical equipment and supplies throughout Africa and many other nations. It was founded by Tom Keefe in 1995, who believed that surplus goods could help alleviate abject poverty all over the world. It started in his garage, and today, in 2011, is located on Interstate 495 in the former Lucent site. They have 220,000 square feet of warehouse and offices in North Andover to accomplish their work.
Donations are received from hospitals, doctors, dentists, pharmacies, businesses and individuals. Equipment is shipped after a five-step process: assessment, acquisition, preparation, packaging and shipment. Forty-foot containers including full medical suites, operating room equipment and complete patient setup to clinics and hospitals are sent throughout the world.
Dr. Abkowitz, who is married to Dr. Glen Crawford, was a primary physician in our area. Many of her patients were sad when she closed her practice to become a hospitalist. I have met more than one former patient who remarked how caring, attentive and devoted she was to her patients.
Dr. Sue, as she is known at IMEC, attended Stanford Medical School, graduating in 1985, and then did additional internal medicine training at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston. The last four months of medical school, 26 years ago, both she and Dr. Crawford started their overseas volunteering and went to Tanzania. As Dr. Sue states in a video, "People are wonderful and appreciate any kind of help we can give them." This couple receives no wages, and they pay for their own transportation when they go on these trips.
I had the privilege of going to IMEC with Dr. Sue on July 27. When we arrived in North Andover at 9 a.m., we unloaded several items of medical equipment that our residents at Horton Terrace had donated. This was our second collection, and I soon found what happens to those articles. It was the best choice we could have made!
During my first hour, I met many volunteers. One of them was Dr. Jim Beattie, a retired pathologist with 40 years of experience in working with medical technology. He began with IMEC in 1991. I wish that I could remember all 50 names of the wonderful people I met that day. I worked directly with Nancy, Barbara and Jean, as well as Flossie and Carlotta. Dr. Sue gave me a tour of the warehouse, the different departments and the location where each item was stored. In the shipping area, I saw several 40-foot containers ready to be shipped to a new hospital in Haiti. It is remarkable what can be accomplished!
At 9:30, I was put to work sorting instruments, separating razor sizes, bandages and tubes. They had to be checked, arranged and given to Jean for the next step. At 2:30 p.m. I went to Dr. Sue's office and waited while she finished her work, arranging shipment dates for Haiti. Recently, she spent time in Tanzania and Kenya. She was the guest of honor at the opening of a nursing-midwifery in Ghana. Both she and Dr. Crawford were recently honored by the Jewish Journal as two of seven "Healthcare Heroes" of the North Shore for more than 26 years of volunteering.
While I waited for Dr. Sue, I watched a video that was filmed in Tanzania at a new clinic, Olmati-Elera. Mosai women danced around Dr. Sue singing and chanting "Mama Sue." Her face radiated her pleasure as she enjoyed her own dance movements. She was wearing her "Queen ceremony" outfit that she had been presented by the tribe.
She is truly an asset to our community and hospital and gives TLC in all her efforts. A special thank-you from me to her for showing me around the quarters and introducing me to approximately 40 or more wonderful volunteers. I hope to return periodically and help out.
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Sara-Anne Eames lives in Newburyport.
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