There’s just not enough to go around’: Midlands healthcare workers struggle getting supplies

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – January 22, 2020. That’s when we last spoke with Dr. Lachin Hatemi from Veritas Health Group. Now, his warnings about the new strain of the coronavirus have turned into our reality.

“We are expected to have 100,000 deaths if we can’t stop it as soon as possible,” Hatemi said when we caught back up with him. “It’s scary. It’s a very scary time.”

Hatemi and his team have created a set up in the back of their building to safely test patients who believe they may have COVID-19 while keeping them away from folks seeking other urgent care services. But like many other healthcare workers, they need help.

“We require PPE’s,” Hatemi said. “We require gowns masks, gloves, unfortunately, we don’t even have any gowns right now, so we’re are exposed to it every single day. Masks, we are running out of masks soon. Two of the three most essential PPE’s, we don’t have access to, and that’s a shame.”

Madison McCarty is the clinical director at Veritas. He says even putting an order to request the gear they need from suppliers has proven to be difficult.

“We’re being told that there’s just not enough to go around,” McCarty said. “They create what they call allocations. Allocation means that they look at our previous supply orders and then only allocate us a very small amount of items we were previously purchasing. So, if you were not already previously purchasing N95 masks, you can no longer get them anymore.”

Dr. Hatemi says the Lexington community has stepped up to donate masks and other supplies to his team, but he’s hoping government officials will help get them the protective gear they need. Hatemi says he believes Lexington should follow Columbia’s lead and issue a Stay-At-Home mandate.

For more: https://www.wistv.com/2020/03/31/theres-just-not-enough-go-around-midlands-healthcare-workers-struggle-getting-supplies/