The funds will be allocated to hospitals in Verona, Milan, Brescia, Bergamo and Rome, and to the CEI, Caritas and other social, health and care organisations

Verona, 8 April 2020. Cattolica Assicurazioni and Fondazione Cattolica have set aside more than €2 million for local and national organisations that have been working hard to tackle the Covid-19 emergency in recent weeks.

In particular, the Cattolica Group has donated €500,000 to six hospitals in Lombardy and Veneto, two of the Italian regions most affected by the current health crisis, to fund the purchase of PPE (personal protection equipment) for intensive and sub-intensive care facilities, helping to make the daily work of doctors, nurses and hospital assistants safer.

Specifically, five handheld ultrasounds were delivered to AUSSL 9 in Verona, while the Sacco Hospital in Milan was equipped with a monitoring system for sub-intensive care. The Ospedale Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Negrar research hospital in Verona, the Spedali Civili medical facilities group in Brescia, the Papa Giovanni XXIII health authority and the Humanitas per la Ricerca Foundation in Bergamo used the funds to purchase personal protection equipment such as masks and gowns, intensive care technologies, including pulmonary ventilators, telemetry systems for patient monitoring and C-PAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machines, and to set up new intensive care stations.

Fondazione Cattolica has also allocated €1.5 million in funds to a group of organisations that reflect the Company's ethical vision, based on the teachings of the Catholic Church. In particular, €150,000 has been donated to the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli research hospital in Rome, which has made available an entire “COVID2” hospital structure in the district of Columbus to the Lazio regional health service, and is now working to provide beds equipped with respiratory monitoring systems for Covid-19 patients.

The CEI and Caritas have been allocated funds of €100,000 and €50,000 respectively, which will enable practical help to be offered to the most vulnerable and those in financial difficulty due to the repercussions of this health crisis.

Specifically in the context of education, funds have also been provided to support the network of Italian Catholic schools and FIDAE training centres which are having to teach remotely due to the Covid-19 emergency and related regulatory provisions. This measure will give schools the opportunity to obtain the computer equipment they need to keep students connected and continue their education.

The remainder of the fund will go to other social enterprises that need support in order to continue their activities at this difficult time. Thanks to the commitment of Fondazione Cattolica, these entities can reorganise themselves in order to continue to meet social needs appropriately in a changing world.