WEST LIBERTY — The West Liberty University nursing and biology programs have donated masks, isolation gowns and cases of gloves to Wheeling Hospital for use during the COVID-19 crisis.

Dr. Rose Kutlenios, program director of WLU’s nursing department, was happy to follow the suggestion of national nursing organizations that asked colleges and nursing schools to donate unneeded supplies.

“We had been getting emails from national organizations to donate if we could and we are happy to step up and do so. Nursing was able to gather about 100 PPEs (personal protective equipment), 300 face masks and 26 boxes of gloves to Wheeling Hospital,” she said.

The biology program also added additional unused protective equipment from its labs to make the WLU donation even larger. Since students are not in labs or in-seat classrooms at this time due to social distancing, the protective gear will not be needed.

Kutlenios contacted the educational liaison at Wheeling Hospital, Renee Tarovisky, to arrange the donation.

“I delivered the items to Wheeling Hospital Monday and they took it from there. We work with Wheeling Hospital and Renee all the time since she assists us with our student rotations,” Kutlenios said.

“Wheeling Hospital has had a longtime student nurse affiliation with West Liberty University Nursing Program. We are very appreciative to the nursing director, clinical instructors and students who come to our facility for clinical rotations. We are grateful to WLU’s College of Sciences for donating valuable PPE supplies to the hospital in this time of need. Each effort, no matter how large or small, makes a huge impact in this fight and Wheeling Hospital is honored to have such wonderful and vital local support,” said Tarovisky

“Because our nursing faculty and I know so many nurses and many of them are our graduates, we are more than pleased to do our part, even though it may be just a drop in the bucket, to help during this national pandemic,” added Kutlenios.

The College of Sciences offers many degrees for students interested in careers in the health sciences including dental hygiene, medical laboratory science, nursing, psychology, speech pathology and audiology. It also offers the master’s in physician assistant studies degree program, a master’s in biology and bridge program with West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.

For more information, please visit westliberty.edu/college-of-sciences.