Specialty Hospitals of America (SHA) Teams With Action Teranga to Lead
Donation Initiative Benefiting Healthcare Services To Hundreds of Thousands
of Families in 7 West African Countries.
Washington, DC, Dec. 21, 2009 -, Specialty Hospitals of America’s (SHA) Founder, Eric
Rieseberg was approached in 2007 by Robert (Bob) King, Advisory Neighborhood
Commissioner-Ward 5 and Tom Kelly, inquiring about the possibility of donating outmoded
hospital equipment and supplies that had reached their mandated expiration dates in the United
States to hospitals in the West African Country of Senegal. Mr. Rieseberg offered the support of
SHA to assist in bringing this important project to reality. Through the partnership of SHA and
Action Teranga, three hospitals in Washington, DC and Medline, a major US medical supplier
have generously donated to Action Teranga surplus items that would have been destroyed in
American landfills. As of December 2009, items such as hospital beds, wheel chairs, serving
trays, and numerous other supplies critical to saving lives and improving the quality of
healthcare were donated to the West African Nations of, Senegal, Gambia, Nigeria, Togo,
Congo, Tanzania and Sierra Leone.
“We have the daunting task of getting the supplies and equipment to West African hospitals,”
said Mr. King, the catalyst for this mission. “We are working with West African nations’ U.S.
Embassies, private donors, and volunteers to raise funds to store, ship, deliver, and manage these
supplies. None of this would have been possible without the leadership and support of Eric
Rieseberg and his entire team at the Specialty Hospitals of America.” says Mr. King.
Action Teranga is a 501(c) 3 not-for profit organization founded by members of the Senegalese
Diaspora and American citizens in order to help foster a greater future for those in Senegal.
They have expanded their intervention to include other West African nations. “Our mission is to
support the improvement and quality of healthcare for hundreds of thousands of people in
Western African nations," said Mbaye Diagne, President of Action Teranga. "It's engrained in
our culture to give back to our communities, and we are extremely thankful that Mr. Rieseberg
has helped to guide this much needed project with the power of commitment and compassion.”
Since 2007, SHA has provided more than 14 cargo containers filled with useful hospital
furniture, equipment and supplies. “We saw this project as an opportunity to help countries in
West Africa improve their delivery of healthcare. While all of the equipment donated by SHA
had exhausted its usefulness according to U.S. Federal regulatory guidelines, the reality is that
every item we sent was in absolute good working condition. We are glad to extend the life of
this functional equipment by having it reused in a country that will put these items to much
needed use,” said Mr. Rieseberg.
When asked why more hospitals are not donating their outmoded equipment and supplies to
other third world countries that could put these functioning items to good use, Mr. Rieseberg
replied, “I think the partnership that we have created with Action Teranga has been really
important to this process. They provide the storage and transportation for all of the items to be
shipped. In addition they are commitment to ensuring that these donations reach the hospitals in
the West African countries. SHA has been very pleased with the accountability and
professionalism of this organization.” In addition, Mr. Rieseberg indicated his commitment to
further help in this effort by placing a challenge to all hospitals to reach beyond their healthcare
corridors to do more for world health. “We are a small hospital organization. If we can find
resources that can vastly benefit others, I am sure larger medical institutions can find ways to
increase their efforts to be better international healthcare neighbors,” says Rieseberg. “It’s just
the right thing to do for us all.”
About Specialty Hospitals of America, LLC
Specialty Hospital of Washington and the United Medical Center
The Specialty Hospital of Washington specializes in long-term intensive care and is licensed as a
specialty hospital and a skilled nursing facility, respectively. Though the concept of long-term
acute care has been in existence throughout the nation for several years, SHW was the first of its
type to operate in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. SHW was established in the District of
Columbia in July, 1995 to provide a comprehensive, cost-effective alternative to long term stays
in an intensive care or critical care units of a short-term general acute care hospital. In 2007,
through a public-private partnership with the District of Columbia, SHA acquired Greater
Southeast Community Hospital, later to be renamed United Medical Center, a 384 short term
acute care facility located in Ward 8 of the District.
For more information, please contact: www.united-medicalcenter.com or www.shwdc.com