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Donated dental items find new home in Cuba

Caring Partners to ship equipment this week

Roy Cline (left), president and CEO of Caring Partners, and Jim Walsh, president of Ross Education LLC, stand with a dental chair and equipment sterilizers, just a part of the donated dental office equipment being prepared by Caring Partners International for shipment to Cuba.

Staff photo by Pat Auckerman Roy Cline (left), president and CEO of Caring Partners, and Jim Walsh, president of Ross Education LLC, stand with a dental chair and equipment sterilizers, just a part of the donated dental office equipment being prepared by Caring Partners International for shipment to Cuba.

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By Rick McCrabb, Staff Writer 12:49 AM Wednesday, November 18, 2009

FRANKLIN — Jim Walsh, president of Ross Institute of Medical and Dental Technology, is a believer in Caring Partners International.

“In a world full of negativity,” Walsh said, “I see nothing but positives here. There may be something negative, but if there is, I’m missing it.”

On Tuesday, Nov. 17, Walsh toured CPI, a Franklin-based organization that provides medical equipment and supplies to Third World countries.

Earlier, Ross donated a used dental operatory from its Cincinnati campus to CPI that will be shipped to Havana, Cuba, on Thursday, Nov. 19, said Roy Cline, president of CPI. The equipment will arrive in Cuba by the middle of December and be set up for permanent use by citizens in the surrounding area of Cotorro, Cuba, he said.

“This is a time of celebration,” Cline said while standing near the crates destined for Cuba. “We’re abundantly blessed.”

He called the equipment “an interesting donation” because typically CPI doesn’t receive a complete dental office.

When Ross Education purchased Cincinnati’s Institute of Medical and Dental Technology last year, officials replaced the existing dental equipment with a new operatory suite for its dental assistant program.

There was just one problem — what to do with the used equipment?

“We’re the ultimate recyclers,” Cline said with a smile.

Staff members from Ross were referred to CPI, which has conducted international medical missions work though local churches for 17 years and has traveled to Cuba since 1997.

Upon arrival in Havana, the equipment will be inspected by the Ministry of Health and installed at the Baptist Retirement Home in Cotorro by January 2010.

Residents of the home, in addition to the neighboring community of 10,000 residents, will be able to take full advantage of the new operatory suite.

In May 2010, a CPI team will be dispatched to inspect the installation of the suite.

“That’s a sight I’ll never want to leave my mind,” Walsh said of the equipment being used in Cuba. “It’s a great honor to give this when you realize how it will be received. A need is met.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com

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