According to a report from ABC News, the Veterans Affairs Department (VA), which had previously defended itself on past shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other medical equipment to protect employees from COVID-19, now says its current supplies may not be enough to handle a second wave.
Today, the VA has about a 30-day supply of gear including masks and gowns but it really needs a 60-day supply, partly to address growing demands as the VA moves to fully reopen its medical centers due to the easing of stay-at-home orders nationwide. To handle a possible second wave of COVID-19, it would need a six-month supply.
Dr. Richard Stone, the VA’s top health official, said that, at the height of the pandemic, VA’s 170 medical centers went through 250,000 N95 masks per day.
Stone also said that, although the VA claims it is now spending $100 million per month for PPE compared with $10 million per month before the pandemic, the U.S. manufacturing base needs to boost production to help meet the needs of every hospital system “in the country and the world.”
The VA was adding medical staff, featuring more than 18,800 employees (with more to come) and prepping four “readiness centers” to house PPE as it prepares for a possible resurgence of the virus this fall.
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) urged President Donald Trump this week to include the VA in the administration’s Defense Production Act (DPA) Committee. Democrats pointed to a broken supply chain and say Trump should invoke the DPA to ensure that the VA, which has the nation’s largest hospital system, receive the medical supplies it desperately needs.