Robert Morris University faculty and staff are mobilizing to combat the coronavirus pandemic, donating scientific and medical supplies to local health providers, joining broad-based coalitions, and assisting students and their families affected by the illness.

Nursing professors have donated personal protective equipment including gowns, gloves, and N95 respirator masks to the Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, a large nursing home in Beaver County which has reported several dozen cases of Covid-19, including three deaths. Nursing faculty also have donated four cases of nitrile gloves to the Vincentian Home in McCandless Township.

The School of Engineering, Mathematics and Science has donated two boxes of safety glasses, one box of safety goggles, and three boxes of face masks to local hospitals. It has also joined a local task force to supply protective and diagnostic equipment, using its 3-D printing lab to manufacture components for protective face shields that PPE Connect PGH is distributing for free to healthcare providers.

RMU has joined the Covid-19 Healthcare Coalition, a national network of healthcare and technology research experts. The university has pledged its expertise in nursing, health services administration, and data science and data analytics in an effort to mitigate the crisis.

In Moon Township, where 39 students are still residing on campus and many more are living nearby, the university’s Student Emergency Fund has been used to help pay rent for some students and has provided airfare for five students and a bus ticket for another to return home.  The university’s Colonial Cupboard food remains open, with access limited to one student at a time to prevent contamination and spread. It is providing nonperishable food, frozen food, milk, and home care products to needy students and their families.