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Every year 18 million patients visit an estimated 7,000 free clinics in the U.S. to receive healthcare. These clinics face a hard choice. A clinic can either spend a large portion of its budget on medicine and medical supplies or refer its patients elsewhere for treatment. Some clinics are able to procure medical donations but they are often inconsistent and time-consuming. Meanwhile, billions of dollars of usable medicine and medical supplies go to waste every year due to logistical challenges. That’s where the Global Economic Opportunity Circle’s Grantee, SIRUM (Supporting Initiatives to Redistribute Unused Medicine) steps in.

SIRUM is a nonprofit online exchange system that streamlines the process of matching demand for medicine in areas of need with the excess supply from pharmaceutical companies. After free clinics and donors register with the SIRUM network, their software automatically matches the available supply of medication with the demand from free clinics. This process occurs in real-time using simple information technology.

Since receiving the grant at the beginning of 2010, SIRUM and Full Circle Fund’s team have helped to pass a county ordinance in Santa Clara county and have opened a dialogue with state lawmakers to help them realize that change is necessary and California Law should be re-written on this topic. SIRUM recently acquired a major donation of unused medicine worth over $20,000 from a small pharmaceutical company in Florida and was able to redistribute it for use in San Mateo County. SIRUM also prompted a letter written by the California Department of Health to be distributed to all skilled nursing facilities in the state that expressly supports donation of unused medicine to counties.

Full Circle Fund Project Leads Michelle Branch, Dion Ward and Tracy Dooley have been hard at work with SIRUM’S leadership to develop the domestic outreach plan. Currently the team, including Paul Saunders, Dee Dee Nguyen, Sarah Wigglesworth, and Natasha Mooney are helping conduct outreach to key counties that have a combination of populations in need as well as clinic medication distribution networks that will allow organizations such as SIRUM to help match supply with need. Members Marc Thibault and Rebecca Smullin have also contributed to the Project Team in various capacities.

“We are very grateful to work with Full Circle Fund,” says SIRUM’s Director of Operations George Wang (pictured above with the rest of the SIRUM team), “They have helped us develop a strategic plan for client recruitment, connected us to key decision makers in the Bay Area, and assisted us in pinpointing potential future funders. Their experience and expertise has been invaluable to our success.”

Full Circle Fund is also working with SIRUM and local government to allow Good Samaritan donations in San Francisco and Marin Counties, and is investigating further expansion of Department of Health clinics in Contra Costa, Solano, Mendocino, Sonoma, Santa Cruz, and Sacramento Counties. Additionally, team members are investigating an outreach strategy to the large health systems in Los Angeles and San Diego.

Posted in SIRUM, Global Economic Opportunity, grantees