With warehouse consolidation, Partners for World Health gains space and efficiency

Photo / Courtesy Partners for World Health A volunteer works at a Partners for World Health warehouse.

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Partners for World Health subleased 16,758 square feet of warehouse space, at 40 Quarry Road in Portland, which will allow the nonprofit to consolidate its medical supply operations and provides room for expansion.

Gregory Hastings II and Chris Craig from the Dunham Group and Claire Richardson from the Boulos Co. brokered the transaction. The landlord is RTS Packaging LLC.

“Previously we leased space in Sanford and that was quite a distance from where our other two warehouses are,” said John Kuehnle, the nonprofit’s new CEO. “So this is an effort to consolidate our operations and also expand them.”

Photo / Courtesy Partners for World Health

Additional warehouse space in Portland improves efficiency and provides room for expansion.

Marketing for the Quarry Road space included 18-foot ceiling heights, 20-foot column spacing, loading docks with a shared truck enclosure and excellent access to I-295 and I-95.

Medical supplies

Partners for World Health was founded in 2009 by Elizabeth McLellan, a 2020 Mainebiz Women to Watch honoree. Kuehnle succeeded McLellan in September.

The organization collects medical supplies and equipment that would otherwise have been discarded from medical facilities, and ships the goods to health care providers in developing countries.

Each 40-foot-long shipping container holds 22,000 to 25,000 pounds of medical consumables and equipment.

Photo / Courtesy Partners for World Health

John Kuehnle

Over the years, the nonprofit has collected, repackaged and distributed over 5 million pounds of medical supplies, worth more than more than $45 million, overseas to troubled areas around the world.

Hundreds of volunteers

Partners for World Health has its headquarters and a warehouse at 40 Walch Drive in Portland’s Riverton neighborhood and additional warehouses some three miles away, at 312 Canco Road and, until recently, at 64 Emery St. in Sanford, with a smaller space in Bangor.

The sublease allows the nonprofit to move operations from Sanford and Bangor to Portland. The space at Quarry Road is larger than both spaces combined. Proximity between the warehouses will make operations more efficient and help the organization reduce its greenhouse emissions, said Kuehnle.

Partners for World Health now has 50,000 square feet of warehouse space and offices across the three Portland facilities. There are 18 employees and 150 to 180 regular volunteers (with a database of over 1,000 volunteers who come in at some point during the year). Volunteers come from area businesses, hospitals and student groups.

Ukraine, Gaza

Shipments have increased steadily over time.

“This year we anticipate sending 24 shipments around the world,” said Kuehnle.

Recent shipments include Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali and Uganda.

Since 2022, the organization has sent 18 shipments to Ukraine, with the most recent shipment in September of this year. Late last year, it shipped five containers to Gaza.

Photo / Courtesy Partners for World Health

A container is loaded for shipment overseas.

The organization was recently staging a shipment for Haiti and was working with a partner organization in Jamaica to prepare an emergency shipment to address damage from Hurricane Mellissa. The turnaround time for emergencies is less than two weeks.

Partners for World Health has an annual budget of about $2 million, with 61% coming from individual donors, most in Maine but also across New England and the U.S. Another 11% comes from grants. The organization also has earned revenue and receives in-kind donations. Medical supplies are donated from hospital systems across New England and the nonprofit does the majority of the pickups.

Photo / Courtesy Partners for World Health

Laura Darnell

Earned income comes from a medical supplies purchase program, with goods such as wheelchairs, walkers, crutches and shower chairs sold to Maine communities at a discount compared to standard retail prices.

That program runs adjacent to a community partners program, with thousands of pounds of medical supplies donated to community partner organizations, said Laura Darnell, director of materials management.

The new warehouse space will help expand that program, added Kuehnle.