COVID-19 Freebies and Discounts for Healthcare Workers: A Comprehensive Guide

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical role of healthcare workers, prompting numerous companies and organizations to express gratitude through freebies, discounts, and special offers. These initiatives, largely concentrated in 2020 and 2021, spanned various categories including food, personal protective equipment (PPE), apparel, professional training, and wellness services. The offers were often time-sensitive, required verification of employment status, and varied significantly by location and participating vendor. This guide details the types of freebies and discounts available based on reports from the pandemic era.

Food and Beverage Offers

Several food and beverage brands initiated programs to provide free meals and snacks to healthcare personnel. These offers were designed to provide convenience and sustenance to workers facing long shifts and limited dining options.

Donuts: A popular donut chain offered two boxes of glazed donuts free to healthcare workers every Monday. This promotion began on March 30 (Doctor’s Day) and extended through May 12. Qualification required showing a healthcare badge.
Coffee: Sheetz offered free coffee to nurses and first responders. This offer extended to hospital workers, police officers, firefighters, and paramedics. It was valid through June 1, 2020, at locations across the country.
General Beverages: Starbucks provided free coffee to customers who identified as frontline workers in the COVID-19 outbreak.
Snacks: Snickers distributed coupons for free Snickers bars to essential workers. These coupons could be validated at Walmart. Customers could visit sendasnickersfromhome.com to send a coupon to an essential worker.
Energy Bars: Verb offered free Verb Bars to healthcare workers in all 50 states. Workers could text 415-915-8372 to receive free delivery.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Safety Supplies

Access to PPE was a major concern during the pandemic. Several organizations stepped up to donate masks, shields, and other safety equipment to frontline workers.

Masks: Preppi donated N95 masks to healthcare workers in need. DHAVNI offered free masks upon request. Intelycare provided free masks with sign-up for their services.
Face Shields and Accessories: Print For the Cure provided face shields, mask straps, and door openers.
Shoes as PPE: Crocs donated a free pair of shoes (with free shipping) to healthcare workers on the frontlines of COVID-19. FJOLK offered a free pair of shoes to healthcare workers; interested parties were instructed to email [email protected].

Apparel and Footwear

Beyond PPE, companies donated or discounted workwear and footwear to support healthcare workers' comfort and safety during long shifts.

Scrubs and Uniforms: Barco Uniforms, a leader in medical apparel, donated scrubs to medical professionals on the frontlines for the duration of the crisis. Clove included free compression socks with every shoe purchase using the code WITHLOVE. Ably Apparel sent a free item from their website to first responders who tagged themselves on Ably's Instagram page starting April 8.
Shoes and Accessories: Tieks launched the #SewTOGETHER Challenge, offering a $50 Tieks Gift card for sewing 25 masks and a $100 Gift Card for 50 or more masks. Kerusso offered a 10% discount on anything in their store to first responders. The Jim Coleman store sold shirts and water bottles specifically for healthcare heroes.
Medical Apparel Brands: Fabled, a women’s medical apparel brand, partnered with The Frugal Physician to offer a discount to readers. Nursemates offered a 15% discount on purchases, including masks.

Professional Training and Certification

Recognizing the need for specialized knowledge during the pandemic, several organizations offered free training and certification courses for nurses and other healthcare professionals.

COVID-19 Training Certifications: IntelyCare offered a 100% free COVID-19 Nurse Training Certification for nursing professionals, including one free contact hour upon completion. The American Nurses Association (ANA) offered a free 68-minute webinar titled “Be Confident Protecting Yourself and Providing the Best Care to Your Patients During this COVID-19 Pandemic.”
Specialized Clinical Training: The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses provided free online resources, including the Pulmonary, ARDS, and Ventilator Resources course, available 24/7. Osmosis developed a free COVID-19 course for health professionals, eligible for 2 CME credits, along with free clinical skill videos and events such as meditation and yoga sessions.

Wellness and Mental Health Services

The pandemic took a toll on the mental health of healthcare workers. Several companies offered free or discounted services to support their well-being.

Therapy: Talkspace provided a free month of therapy for doctors, nurses, social workers, and frontline workers. Access required registering with an NPI and/or work badge after downloading the Talkspace app.
Financial Planning: Accruent Advisors offered a complimentary 30-minute session with a financial advisor to anyone working in the medical field in the Winston-Salem area.

Discounts on Services and Products

In addition to freebies, many companies offered percentage-based discounts on products and services as a token of gratitude.

Marketing Services: LinkBuildingHQ offered a 15% discount on marketing services for frontline workers using the coupon code Covid15-LBUS.
General Retail: Nursemates offered a 15% discount on purchases. Kerusso offered a 10% discount to first responders.

Eligibility and Verification

Most offers required proof of employment to qualify. Acceptable verification methods frequently included: * Showing a valid medical, state, or federal service ID. * Showing a healthcare badge. * Registering with an NPI (National Provider Identifier) or work badge for digital services. * Tagging oneself on social media for specific brand offers.

Offers were often limited to specific timeframes (e.g., National Nurses Week, May 6–12) or specific geographic locations (e.g., Winston-Salem for Accruent Advisors). Participation and offers often varied by location.

Conclusion

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a wide array of freebies and discounts became available to healthcare workers as a gesture of community appreciation. These ranged from essential PPE and food to professional development resources and wellness support. While many of these offers were time-bound to the 2020–2021 period, they represent a significant mobilization of corporate and community support for frontline personnel. Consumers seeking similar offers should look for official brand announcements and verify eligibility requirements directly with the provider.