Surge in Coronavirus Patients Threatens to Swamp U.S. Hospitals

Chronic shortages of personal protection equipment plague health-care providers of all stripes but especially nursing homes, said Premier Inc., a national purchasing organization that procures drugs and supplies for hospitals and nursing homes. A nursing home in Kirkland, Wash., has been the source of 22 deaths alone.

But many nursing homes across the country can’t purchase N95 protective masks for their health workers because they have not bought them in the past, according to Premier. A system of `“allocation” in place among major distributors limits people to a historic purchase volume.

, senior director of advocacy at Premier. Premier sent out surveys to 28,000 nursing homes, which collectively have 2 million beds. More than half of those who responded said they have no access to personal protective equipment, she said.

Another dire shortage emerged at a hospital dealing with the pandemic in Washington State, Saha said. Evergreen Health ran out of a type of protective gear called a purified air-powered respirator, or PAPR, which is needed for workers to clean the room and handle the remains of a coronavirus patient who has died.

It took nine hours to locate 21 PAPRs, creating a delay in preparing for the next patient, Saha said. Airlines are prohibited from transporting PAPRs because they are categorized as a hazardous material, she explained, so it had to be transported by ground. Premier has asked the government to permit air transport of the devices.

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