Officials fear shortage of protective equipment for healthcare workers

As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state continues to rise, officials are growing more concerned about the state’s supply of masks, gloves and other protective equipment for healthcare workers.

“There are real shortages and it’s not focused on one type of supply,” Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer for communicable diseases at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, said at a press briefing Tuesday.

At a Wisconsin Medical Society executive committee meeting Tuesday night, members from around the state expressed “significant concern” over the lack of masks and other personal protective equipment, according to CEO Dr. Bud Chumbley.

“This shortage threatens the ability of the healthcare workforce to care for the people of Wisconsin as COVID-19 cases surge,” Chumbley said. “A significant reduction in the number of physicians, nurses and allied health professionals available to treat those with COVID-19 would be a catastrophic event.”

“Given the anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases we can never have enough equipment or physicians and nurses available to meet our needs,” Marshfield Clinic Health System CEO Dr. Sue Turney said. “While we have supplies at the moment there is a statewide and broader concern around [personal protective equipment] and testing supplies in the future.”

Dr. Alicia Arnold, an independent physician from Eau Claire, said she’s heard of some physicians who are thinking of quitting the workforce, out of fear they will get sick.

“If doctors and nurses are unable to protect themselves, not only are they going to get the virus and spread it to others, but they also, if they are sick, will not be available to care for patients, which is particularly a big deal in rural areas,” Arnold said.

Kristin Mueller, a spokeswoman for North Shore Healthcare, which runs more than 60 nursing homes and assisted living centers in Wisconsin, said that supply levels of protective equipment are “absolutely an issue of great concern for all acute and long-term care providers.”

“This must be one of the top priorities for state and federal officials to assure that the distribution chain can meet this critical need,” she said.

Wisconsin Health Care Association CEO John Vander Meer said his group is working with providers, suppliers and state officials to see what supplies can be flown into Wisconsin.

They are also, in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, considering innovative ways to preserve the supply, including re-using certain masks and substituting other clothing for gowns, Vander Meer said.

Wisconsin Hospital Association Chief Medical Officer Dr. Mark Kaufman said the greatest concern, at this point, is the supply of N95 respirator masks. He said DHS is conducting a weekly survey of all protective equipment and sharing the results with hospitals and WHA.

Kaufman said WHA has reached out to the state’s construction community for help with masks.

The Department of Workforce Development is also talking with labor unions. Among the responses they have received is from the Wisconsin Laborers’ District Council, which is donating 100 masks from their training center.

DHS Secretary-designee Andrea Palm said the department requested supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile, but have received notice they will only receive “a small allotment of a variety of pieces of equipment.”

According to a letter from U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and several members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, the state has been notified that it’s eligible to receive: 54,709 N95 respirators; 130,326 surgical masks; 24,816 face shields; 20,233 surgical gowns; 104 coveralls and 72,044 gloves.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not return a request for comment confirming how much the state is slated to get, or when it can expect the shipment.

On Wednesday, President Trump announced he will invoke the Defense Production Act, paving the way for the administration to force American manufacturers to boost production of needed medical supplies.

“It can do a lot of good things if we need it,” Trump said Wednesday at a briefing with reporters.

Palm stressed that other states are having similar issues.

“We are currently working through how we prioritize, how we work through the deployment of what we are receiving from the stockpile,” she said on a press call this week. “We and states all across the country continue to press the CDC and the federal government for whatever supplies we can get.”

“This is going to be a problem for the country,” she added.