With Covid-19 cases climbing across the U.S., Direct Relief continues to respond to requests from hospitals and health facilities for essential medical aid.
Dozens of shipments have already departed this week from Direct Relief to medical facilities around the world, including many in the U.S., where Arizona and California are experiencing record case numbers. Direct Relief has monitoring these Covid-19 hotspots, and conducting extensive outreach to medical staff in these areas to offer support.
Arizona now has the highest case and death rate of Covid-19 in the U.S., with about 7,300 new Covid-19 cases and 182 known deaths reported on Thursday.
Shipments of PPE, including gloves, gowns, masks and other supplies, have departed Direct Relief’s warehouse for the state this week, in coordination with the Arizona Alliance of Community Health Centers.
Health facilities in Tuba City, Tucson, Mesa, Casa Grande, and Phoenix, among others, either have received infusions of PPE this week or have shipments en route.
Health facilities in California, the second-most impacted U.S. state, also received critical supplies this week from Direct Relief.
Direct Relief Delivers Oxygen Concentrators to California Covid Hotspot
Shortages of oxygen in many California hospitals have been widely reported. Direct Relief shipped hundreds of oxygen concentrators to hospitals working to quickly make room for incoming patients.
Antelope Valley Hospital, in Lancaster, California, is one hospital experiencing a surge of cases. To accommodate the influx of patients, it set up a field hospital with 50 additional beds in its parking lot. Direct Relief staff delivered requested medical aid to the area Tuesday, including 200 oxygen concentrators, which can provide respiratory support to patients being discharged from the hospital, freeing up space for more critical cases.
Direct Relief is supporting many Los Angeles-area hospitals with respiratory equipment via the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Among the recipients is Cedars Sinai Hospital, which has 240 powered air-purifying respirators, or PAPRS, en route. These devices can protect providers with an enclosed hood and attached air purifier as they provide patient care over long stretches of time.
Dozens of health centers and clinics across California have also received recent shipments of PPE, including health centers from all corners of the state, including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Crescent City, Tustin, Delano, Salinas, and dozens of others.
Since December 1, 2020, the organization has made 2,918 shipments totaling 498,483 lbs. (249 tons) of medical material aid containing 28.5 million Defined Daily Doses and valued $210.1 million to 1,077 partner organizations in 48 US states/territories and 46 countries.
The material aid shipments provided upon request to health organizations include both medical supplies and essential medications for patients without the means to pay, as well as more than 18 million units of PPE needed for any in-person medical visits and of course for care of Covid patients.
Direct Relief has also issued $6.3 million in grants in recent weeks, including $500,000 for Covid-19 response to the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County, which represents non-profit community clinics and health centers that serve more than 1.7 million patients, many of whom are uninsured, underinsured, low-income, high-risk and vulnerable populations.
