Back in the 1920s, philanthropist Mary Harkness and husband Edward founded Camp Harkness in Connecticut to care for disabled victims of polio. Recently, the state allocated funds to upgrade the facility, which now serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
In his post for To the Point, Commonwealth Fund President David Blumenthal, M.D., draws a line from his childhood experience lining up for the polio vaccine in 1950s New York City to our present-day struggles with COVID-19 — and how Harkness family support enabled work to combat both crises. By endowing the Fund, the Harkness family committed to improving the U.S. health care system, including our recent efforts to understand and defeat the pandemic.
If the Harknesses were alive today, Blumenthal writes, “they would be fighting to make sure all Americans were vaccinated against COVID-19, especially our most vulnerable and disempowered citizens” — and urging us all to join the vaccination line.
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