Hospitals Face Severe Shortage As Pandemic Grinds Forward

Hospitals around the country say their supplies of crucial personal protective equipment (PPE) and other medical supplies are lower than ever as demand for different items has soared to an all-time high.

Data detailing usage rates of PPE and other supplies analyzed by Premier, a company that consults for health care systems, revealed that usage of supplies for COVID-19 testing and treatment has reached the highest rate seen since the pandemic began last year.

The data, gathered between May 2020 through January 2021, was supplied by 50 health care systems across the nation that are representative of the company’s larger population of clients.

PPE shortages first emerged last March, with officials in several states warning that they did not have enough supplies to adequately protect health care workers from being infected themselves.

Among the items seeing the highest demand as a result of surging COVID-19 hospitalizations through January include sterile water, which is used in many injections including the Remdesivir treatment former President Trump received as part of his COVID-19 treatment regimen at Walter Reed Medical Center last year.

Read more at The Hill.

{Matzav.com}