STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Hey, Tiny Tim…Can you spare a crutch?

St. Luke’s Health System is asking the community to donate new or gently used crutches, particularly adult crutches that are not being used. to replenish supplies.

St. Luke’s will accept crutches through Jan. 3 at ten locations, including St. Luke’s Wood River in Ketchum.

The hospital is reaching out to the community because the supply chain has been disrupted by shortages of aluminum and other components that go into making crutches, Jason Merrill told reporters this week. St. Luke’s goes through about 400 crutches of month of all different sizes.

St. Luke’s conducted a crutch drive among its employees and is now reaching out to the community.

Merrill, senior director of St. Luke’s Supply Chain Management, said major health systems throughout the nation are dealing with the issue.

“There’s not a lot of products out there that our industry can reuse. But crutches are one of those and we want to take advantage of that,” he said.

A team will inspect donated crutches to make sure they’re clinically approved and clean them to make sure they’re safe. Patients will not be charged for the donated crutches.

“Many of us have had crutches that we didn’t know what to do with once we were done using them,” Merrill said. “Supply lines are pretty disrupted right now and suppliers are reluctant to commit. This will help us solidify our supply.”

Questions? Email SLHScrutchdrive@slhs.org