SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., (KRON) — Two Bay Area residents have teamed up together to help create an online platform that matches local community volunteers with healthcare workers in need of help with things like food and errands.

HospitalHero was co-founded by Keith Weissglass of Oakland and Andrew Cantino of San Francisco after witnessing how the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on healthcare workers across the country.

“We knew healthcare workers would be hardest hit by the crisis, and we wanted them to have a way to get support regardless of where they lived,” Weissglass said. “When we launched HospitalHero, more than 400 volunteers from across the country signed up in just one month, with more than 50 in the San Francisco Bay Area alone.”

Healthcare workers can request help by submitting a form online through the HospitalHero website where they will be matched with local volunteers and businesses who have signed up to help.

In most cases healthcare workers commonly request for meals — not just for themselves but often times for their entire department.

As the fight to stop the spread of COVID-19 continues, Weissglass wanted to find a way to connect people wanting to help local healthcare workers in the safest and easiest way to possible to limit exposure.

“When we launched HospitalHero, we were worried we would have too few volunteers to meet the need,” Weissglass said. “Instead, we were overwhelmed by how many people raised their hands to help nationwide.”

Weissglass and Cantino worked together and assembled a team of volunteers across the country in software design, engineering and operations professions through Slack to help build HospitalHero.

HopstialHero was launched in just two weeks and has since continued to grow its list of hundreds of volunteers across the country that have already fulfilled numerous of requests from healthcare workers.

“The Bay Area has done a great job of flattening the curve, but for frontline workers the end is not yet in sight. As the crisis drags on, it’s more important than ever to support healthcare workers,” Weissglass said.

“These small acts of service can mean a lot to the doctors, nurses, and other hospital heroes who are making the real sacrifices to keep us safe.”

Do you know someone who deserves to be recognized? Click here to submit them to be a KRON4 Hero.