Employees and volunteers at DME Exchange sanitize durable medical equipment
You say your broken leg is healed? Your parents’ wheelchair is gathering dust in the garage? Your son finally got clearance from the doc who did his ACL surgery?
DME Exchange of Dallas wants to talk to you. The nonprofit hopes you’ll donate that durable medical equipment (DME) taking up space in your closet or attic for use by thousands of needy patients who require crutches, canes, hospital beds or other doctor-ordered aids because of illness or injury.
Advocate featured DME’s Executive Director, Lake Highlands resident Betty Hersey, in 2015, and she tells me the need today is as dire as ever before.
“I can’t tell you how grateful the patients are when they find there is a source that will provide DME without charge,” Hersey says. “The patient recovers more quickly, there is less chance of re-injuring him or herself, the caregivers get some physical relief – the entire family benefits.”
DME Exchange collects “gently used” items, which staff and volunteers refurbish and sanitize to state standards. They are given, free of charge, to patients who (1) have a doctor’s prescription, (2) are 200 percent below the poverty level (i.e. $1,950/month for a single person), (3) have proof they don’t have insurance or have a gap in coverage and (4) live in Dallas County. Patients aren’t required to return the items, but they sometimes do. One hospital bed has been recycled six times.
“Without DME Exchange, most of these items would go into the trash,” Hersey says. “We have people who, from time to time, want to sell their DME, but they find out pretty quickly no one wants to buy it, even in garage sales. They don’t want to deal with the germs.”
DME Exchange welcomes volunteers at its facility, offering a variety of tasks to choose from. The biggest need is sanitizing the DME, “two or three people can visit while cleaning,” Hersey says, or folks can perform administrative tasks like interacting with doctors and coordinating deliveries. DME Exchange is currently seeking to hire a permanent, part-time Patient Services Manager with flexible hours at $15/hour.
Mostly, Hersey says, it’s rewarding to see the difference DME Exchange makes in the lives of families.
“We have people who come in and feel so lucky they have found us. One son brought in his parents’ matching power scooters. He had been saving them for two years. We had a father bring in his daughter’s wheelchair, so glad it would be used again. He had been keeping it for 10 years. He just couldn’t give it up. There are a lot of attachments to these items if a loved one used them.”
Dallas has the highest number of uninsured individuals in the nation, says Hersey, with 25-50,000 individuals annually needing DME they can’t afford. One in four people do not have insurance in Dallas, she says.
“The sad thing is that the DME is so expensive,” Hersey laments. “It’s a shame to have a ‘one and done’ situation. It really is a waste of money and expertise.”
DME Exchange accepts donations Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. at its facility at 12015 Shiloh Road near Northwest Highway. You may call 214-997-3639 or email info@dfwdmeexchange.org to arrange a drop off or pick up. It accepts and distributes canes, crutches, walkers, rollators, wheelchairs, power chairs and scooters (less than 5 years old), shower chairs, tub transfer benches, raised toilet seats, home hospital beds (not adjustable beds), mattresses (if wrapped in plastic) and hoyer lifts, and the organization gives tax receipts for donations.
Sanitized walkers and other DME stand ready to go at DME Exchange
