As Virginia hospitals report urgent need for personal protective equipment, how are those in Hampton Roads doing?

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) — Hospitals in Virginia need equipment to fight COVID-19 and keep their workers protected.

The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association reports eight hospitals in the state are struggling to replenish personal protective equipment (PPE) as of Friday, and say their supply will be exhausted in the next three days. That number is now down from 13 hospitals earlier this week.

Three also report difficulty in receiving and replenishing medical supplies.

It’s not clear where exactly the need exists, as association officials would not disclose that information to 10 On Your Side.

Gov. Ralph Northam announced Wednesday the state has purchased $27 million in equipment. However, Northam says it’s not enough, as Virginia has only gotten a small fraction of the PPE it has requested from the federal government.

“That market is chaotic and difficult, due to lack of federal action,” Northam said.

While no Virginia hospital has run out of PPE, several here in Hampton Roads are concerned about the possibility.

Riverside Health System

Executive Director Mark Rath said Riverside is in “fairly decent shape” right now when it comes to protective gear. Riverside staff monitors PPE usage every day.

PPE includes: gloves, masks, gowns, Tyvek suit coveralls, air purifying respirators with hoods and half face mask respirators.

Rath says medical workers are operating like they’re at the COVID-19 peak already (Virginia’s isn’t expected until at least later this month) and Riverside is ordering supplies each day. 

“We are not there yet, but we act like we are,” explained Rath. “Through our supply chain management, working with our partners/vendors, other health care systems, state agencies, federal agencies, getting allocations from the strategic national stockpile. We are just constantly ordering, ordering, ordering.” 

However, as more hospitals request gear and more people get sick, there is concern about availability. 

“We are in competition for a lack of a better word with the federal government, with other health systems, [and] with other states,” Rath said. [New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo], and others, daily talk about their needs. We are all in this boat together. The manufacturers, they are doing the best they can with allocation, redirecting shipments, where the hotspots are, etc. We all face those challenges. We are in this together, trying to share and make sure we’re all getting what we need.”  

The hospital system has received three shipments from the strategic national stockpile. Rath said Riverside is committed to make sure both critical and non-critical staff stay protected.

“We want to make sure our staff has that proper personal protective equipment, that we are following the CDC guidelines, [and] the Virginia Department of Health guidelines. So that we are protecting our staff, which in turn not only protects them. It protects their family, our patients, residents, anybody else that comes into our facilities. It is absolutely critical for us.”

Sentara Healthcare

Sentara says it plans to have a better idea of its PPE needs in the next week or so. 

Sentara Norfolk General Hospital is now performing on-site COVID-19 tests. When the pandemic first started, Sentara was doing drive-thru testing at several of its locations. Now with in-house testing, spokesperson Dale Gauding says they will get results faster. The hope is to reduce the amount of PPE required. 

VA Medical Center

Executive Director David Collins said the VA Medical Center in Hampton, which had reported 34 COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, reports it has enough PPE.

“We are monitoring the amount of PPE we have on hand on a daily basis,” Collins said in a statement. “As the requirements for PPE increase with the patient surge numbers, the supply will of course be tested. Fortunately, the VA operates as a health system and we’re able to share [or] move PPE from one facility to another within our Veterans Integrated Service Networks (or VISN). I fully expect to have the PPE we need, when we need it, because we have done a great job conserving it and planning for restocking.”

The Veteran Affairs center has developed several PPE policies.

“We’re using the current CDC guidelines for where PPE is required and who should be wearing it.  There are also Veterans Health Administration (or VHA) guidelines that cover the wear, issuing, use, and security of PPE.  All of these are updated on a regular basis so that we’re working with up to date information,” Collins adds.

The VHA is collecting donated PPE supplies.