IN REMEMBRANCE pital medical staff. In 1992, he was elected President of the Jefferson County( now Greater Louisville) Medical Society( JCMS), where he would craft his greatest legacy, the founding of Supplies Over Seas.
Dr. Waterman( left) in the SOS warehouse.
WATERMAN’ S GREATEST LEGACY: SUPPLIES OVER
SEAS In 1992, Waterman learned of a small Yale program that gathered unused medical supplies and sent them to medically needy countries. Observing much waste here, he organized a similar program through the JCMS, with initial support from Louisville’ s Medical Center hospitals. The effort grew and gathered more support throughout the medical community, from the JCMS Foundation, from Mr. David Jones and the Humana Foundation, and from the Kentucky Medical Association Foundation. The Humana Foundation Executive Director, Virginia Kelly Judd, suggested a name that Waterman would attach to the growing effort, Supplies Over Seas( S. O. S.). Program growth has been exponential over a quarter century, and S. O. S. now has a strong national reputation and global reach.
Refurbishing and recycling supplies from the basic to the most complex of medical equipment, S. O. S. has served needs in over 100 developing countries. Simultaneously this recycling keeps tons of plastics, metal and toxic electronic residues from local landfills. The S. O. S. shipments range from small collections hand-carried by Louisville’ s many international medical volunteers to 40-foot sea-going containers, which hold 6-8 tons of supplies and equipment with values of $ 150,000- $ 350,000 each. S. O. S. has now served hundreds of humanitarian outreach programs from UofL Medical School and community organizations, and it has greatly enhanced their effectiveness. I recall with great appreciation the value added to a 1990s effort for improving burn care in Vietnam by hand-carried S. O. S. supplies for many missions, plus one container shipment to the Burn Unit of Saigon’ s Children’ s Hospital, Nee Dong One.
In 2017, S. O. S. has already shipped over 300,000 pounds of supplies, including 19 ocean-going containers and over 130 collections hand-carried by mission teams. Medical School and community
humanitarian programs served by container shipments in 2017 include the U of L Pediatrics mission in Tanzania, the Women’ s Cancer Alliance in Haiti, the Love from Louisville outreach to Syrian refugee camps in Greece, plus programs in Senegal, Nicarauga, and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Currently, S. O. S. is organizing container shipments to victims of the Mexico City earthquake and the Puerto Rico hurricane. This year, S. O. S. became one of only six nationally accredited Medical Surplus Recovery Organizations.
The great humanitarian good accomplished on this ongoing basis all derives from the insight of Dr. Norton Waterman 25 years ago. In recognition, Dr. Waterman was selected to receive the Excellence in International Humanitarian Service Award of the 2017 Doctors’ Ball, sponsored by KentuckyOne Health Jewish Hospital and St. Mary’ s Foundation. Sadly, he died just two weeks before this well-deserved recognition, but the Louisville medical community has been inspired to honor his legacy. Friends and admirers may honor Dr. Waterman with contributions to S. O. S. and those wishing to make S. O. S. a beneficiary of their estate may enter the Waterman Society, founded in his memory at S. O. S. For information, contact Tim Tomes at S. O. S.( tim. tomes @ suppliesoverseas. org). Dr. Norton Waterman has left a legacy for all of us to admire and sustain.
- Gordon R. Tobin, MD
DECEMBER 2017 9