PR Center
News Release
Company’s donation helps Augusta VA connect veterans with families
Apr 29, 2020
In an attempt to mitigate the effect of the no visitors policy at VA hospitals across the country due to the coronavirus, the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center has started using Facebook Portal to connect veterans with their loved ones.
On Thursday, POSCO America donated eight 40″ Smart TVs and eight Facebook Portals to the VA to help them connect families with veterans at the medical center. POSCO, an Atlanta-based subsidiary of a South Korean steel manufacturer, makes carbon steel and tin products.
“Like most of the country, at the nursing home, we got orders from the central office in Washington D.C. we couldn’t have visitors because of COVID-19,” Beth Cutshall, Clinical Nurse Leader Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, said. “We began to think about how we could facilitate connections and communications between our residents and their families.”
Cutshall said they considered using iPads, but they are smaller and harder to handle. With Facebook, a video call can be made and projected on one of the big screens for veterans to talk with their loved ones.
For about two weeks, the VA has been using a Facebook Portal and an extra TV to allow veterans to speak with their families. Courtney Deese, who is the Fisher House manager, received a call from POSCO America asking what it could do to help.
POSCO and the Fisher House already had built a good relationship after the company donated 21 smart TVs to the house back in 2018. Deese told them they needed more TVs and Facebook portals, which the company agreed to provide.
“It helps (veterans) see their loved ones,” Deese said. “It helps them connect with them. A veteran got to see his dog or his wife, they did a birthday celebration on building 2B for a 90-year-old veteran.”
The new TVs and Facebook portals will be placed at the VA Medical Center Uptown and Downtown locations. Sara Bae, assistant HR and Georgia Manager for POSCO, said with coronavirus canceling a lot of events and affecting people around the world, they decided to reach out to the VA to see if it needed anything.
“We just talked to her earlier last week and decided we wanted to put this into action right away, where we can help people to connect in a difficult time like this,” Bae said.
Although in-person visitation is the most ideal way for veterans to connect with their families, the donations will provide the VA with a good alternative until things return to normal, Cutshall said.
“Of course, in-person visits are what’s optimal, but we can’t do that right now,” she said. “This is a wonderful opportunity.”