
HARRISBURG (Newsradio 1020 KDKA - On Wednesday, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed an order aimed at supporting hospitals throughout the state with targeted distribution of personal protective equipment and supplies in the fight against the coronavirus.
“Combating a pandemic means we all have to work together and that means we need to make the best use of our medical assets to ensure the places that need them most have them,” Gov. Wolf said. “Today, I am signing an order that will allow us to transfer supplies and information between medical facilities to both high-population, high-impact areas and lower population areas that might not have as many existing medical resources.
“This will also prevent sick Pennsylvanians from having to choose which hospital to go to for fear that some have less access to equipment than others and it will help us make use of every ventilator, every piece of PPE, and every medical worker.”
To date, more than 16,000 Pennsylvanians have contracted the coronavirus and 310 have died from it. 30 of those deaths have ocurred in Pittsburgh region.
The order states, “despite the voluntary efforts of health care providers and despite the exhaustive work of commonwealth agencies to procure PPE and other medical resources from private industry to support Pennsylvania’s health care workers, facilities and emergency responders, a critical shortage of PPE, pharmaceuticals and other medical resources remains.”
Under the order, medical facilities and entities throughout the supply chain for PPE, pharmaceuticals and other medical resources must submit a current inventory to he Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) within five days.
PEMA will then allocate necessary resources where they're most needed and will work with facilities to reimburse them for the supplies.
Wolf's order is effective immediately and will remain in effect throughout the COVID-19 emergency.
You can read the Governor's order by clicking here.
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