Nursing homes face shortage
WASHINGTON (AP) — Many nursing homes risk running out of protective masks and gowns by next week because of the coronavirus, an industry group warned Wednesday.
“We really need to take drastic action to conserve masks and gowns going forward,” said Dr. David Gifford, chief medical officer at the American Health Care Association, one of the main trade groups representing the nation’s 15,600 nursing homes.
The industry group is calling on its members to stretch the use of personal protective equipment and asking other health care facilities such as dental offices to consider providing any unneeded supplies to nursing homes.