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Hospitals seek protective equipment donations to combat the coronavirus

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As cases of the coronavirus continue to climb across the country, hospitals are scrambling to get any piece of personal protective equipment they can to help shield the nurses and doctors who work on the front lines of the pandemic.

Scrounging for the much-needed protective gear has reached such urgency that health officials have started asking for the community’s help in sourcing for face masks and gowns.

Glendale’s hospitals are no different, with each facility issuing an open call for donations from the public to help shore up their dwindling supplies.

USC Verdugo Hills Hospital in Glendale has started releasing the number of patients who have tested positive and negative for the novel coronavirus at the facility. To date, 30 have tested positive. Releasing that information is up to individual hospitals, and other local hospitals have not released the same figures.

April 3, 2020

“We have a lot of people in our community looking to donate … but we also have to make sure that the donations we receive will work and meet our needs,” Jason Kell, associate chief finance officer at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital, said.

Alicia Gonzalez, a spokeswoman with Adventist Health Glendale, said some of the equipment being sought by the hospitals includes industrial-grade N95 respirator masks, surgical gowns, goggles, face shields and gloves.

The N95 respirator masks are especially needed because, when worn correctly, they filter out most small airborne particles and provide vastly greater protection than a simple surgical mask.

The novel coronavirus is spread through respiratory droplets sprayed when an infected person coughs or sneezes. A person can also spread the virus by merely talking.

While using a respirator doesn’t eliminate the risk of getting infected, it greatly reduces the chances.

Kell said the masks are especially useful when certain high-aerosolizing procedures are performed where an infected person can end up spitting into the air, such as during the insertion of a breathing tube.

Kell said the staff at Verdugo Hills is also looking at alternative sources to obtain protective gear such as direct partnerships with small businesses or even trying to source equipment from other countries.

“That’s anywhere from places that try to 3D-print face shields to even folks in the [Los Angeles Fashion District] looking to produce hospital-grade masks and gowns,” he said.

In addition to the safety gear, the medical facilities are also looking for donations of hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes that are also in short supply across the country.

Because of the dwindling supply of new and unused safety gear, Los Angeles County officials have asked health workers to reuse their current stock when applicable as a conservation method such as disinfecting goggles to wear again.

Kell also stressed that, in addition to hospitals, community members should consider making donations of protective equipment to other types of healthcare providers such as skilled nursing centers. Workers at those centers are on the front lines of the pandemic and need protective gear, he added.

“They’re a forgotten provider and care for the most vulnerable to the virus, the elderly and people with comorbidities [having two chronic diseases],” he said.

Donations of protective equipment can be made to Adventist Health by visiting adventisthealth.org/glendale, supportglendale.org for donations to Dignity Health and keckmedicine.org/coronavirus-donate for donations to USC Verdugo Hills.

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