Samaritan’s Purse, the charity most of us know for Operation Christmas Child, had its DC-8 airplane land safely in Poland yesterday (Sunday) with materials for an Emergency Field Hospital which the Samaritan’s Purse team is in the process of setting up.

The charity says based on recent assessments they have decided to increase capacity for the Ukraine Field hospital with planning for two operating rooms and capacity for 14 major surgeries or 30 minor surgeries a day. There will be four wards with 50 inpatient beds and an emergency room that can handle 100 patients a day.

Additional equipment is scheduled to be flown to Poland and taken into Ukraine later this week and additional Canadian Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) members including medical and logistics personnel are expected to join Samaritan’s purse staff already helping the refugees who’ve fled to neighbouring countries.

Two outpatient health clinics equipped to treat 200 patients a day are expected to arrive on an additional flight. In addition to its medical aid, Samaritan’s Purse is also preparing to distribute food inside besieged cities of Ukraine.

Samaritan’s Purse says the charity will continue to work with its more than 3,200 church partners in Ukraine, many of which were distributing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes as conflict erupted.