Dallas County Hospital and 21st Century Rehab have put plans in motion to open a durable medical equipment Loan Closet in Perry, but first they need some help from the community.

The program is being spearheaded by Caitlin McDowell, who tells Raccoon Valley Radio that it’s something that has worked well at other hospitals, so she felt it would be successful in Perry as well. Through the Loan Closet, patients would be able to rent equipment such as commodes, shower chairs, tub transfer benches, walkers, wheelchairs, and more. There is no cost to check out equipment, and McDowell says it would function a lot like a public library. She says since she started working in Perry, she’s noticed that many of her rehabilitation patients haven’t been able to acquire some of the equipment that would speed up their recovery.

“These pieces of equipment are difficult to come by. They are not often covered by insurances, and so those are out of pocket costs for the people that I work with. And what I wanted to do was to get this Loan Closet up and started with the help of my colleagues at the hospital, so that there’s an option for people within this community around Perry to be able to rent these pieces of equipment at no cost to them for that temporary basis. So that they are able to go home safely.”

DCH hopes to have the Loan Closet up and running by next year, but before they can do that they need equipment. To that end, the hospital is looking for donations from the public, and anyone interested in doing so can reach out to McDowell at Dallas County Hospital, or by calling 515-465-7557.