Health Equipment Lending Program Hours
Monday through Friday
9 AM to 4 PM
The Health Equipment Lending Program at Good News Project (GNP) began in 2005 as a way to serve the local community. Everyone, at some time in their lives, needs access to assistive devices like bath chairs, crutches, wheelchairs or hospital beds. The problem is that not everyone can afford it. For those with limited income, little or no insurance, or the inability to qualify for Medicare or Medicaid, obtaining necessary equipment to remain independently living in the home can be overwhelming. The program is here to help individuals obtain these items at a level they can afford…to make life a bit easier.
How Does the Program Work?
The program is designed for people with short-term needs to recover from an illness, surgical procedure, or other brief usage. Whether you need the item for a weekend or for up to six months, the donation suggestion is the same. Items are eligible for one renewal and in some cases for purchase, when long-term use is needed.
A low suggested (tax-deductible) donation is suggested for each item. This helps us maintain and sanitize our inventory while we continue to provide this service to the community. The Health Equipment Lending Program does not coordinate with insurance, Medicare or Medicaid.
The program loans hospital beds, walkers, wheelchairs, commodes, canes, crutches and other medical equipment to those in need. Disposable items may also be available for sale at modest costs: adult briefs, bed pads/liners, etc. We offer standard size equipment and heavy-duty pieces (when available) for those who weigh over 300 pounds.
There are no requirements to ‘borrow’ an item from our program… just a need.
We do not require a prescription, nor do we restrict usage to people in Marathon County.
Currently, we have a good supply of durable medical equipment to loan. To learn more about the process, click here.
Download our HELP brochure (pdf format), and a HELP Price List
The items we offer for loan are items that have been donated to us. We check over each item, (repairing if needed), clean and sanitize each piece before adding it to our inventory. Some items may be available for purchase if the need is long-term. For more details about this option, or to learn more about donating equipment, please email Toni or contact our office at 715-843-5985.
Using this state of the art sanitizer, this machine allows us to efficiently clean and sanitize the majority of our medical equipment before it leaves Good News Project (GNP).
*The Good News Project Health Equipment Lending Program is not meant to be a diagnostic medical equipment program. Participants come in knowing what they want/need. GNP is not responsible for misused, improperly fitted or incorrectly chosen items. We recommend that the chosen items be properly fitted by your healthcare professional.
In 2023:
- 2,478 families/individuals were assisted, at an average of 205 each month
- 2,826 pieces of durable medical equipment went out to families in need
- Volunteers served 2,750 hours in the Health Equipment Lending Program
- 74% of loans went to people who reside in Marathon County; 20% went to residents of a county once-removed with the rest going to further reaching homes in Wisconsin
- We accepted donations of 761 pieces of medical equipment to allow us to facilitate these loans. Due to the increase in humanitarian needs, about 20% of those were shared with organizations to ship overseas
To learn more about our process, click below.