Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Either Be In Or Out, Folks': Governors Say Feds Are Interfering With Ventilator Distribution Just Enough To Create Chaos
The New York Times: ‘Swept Up By FEMA’: Complicated Medical Supply System Sows Confusion
In Massachusetts, state leaders said they had confirmed a vast order of personal protective equipment for their health workers; then the Trump administration took control of the shipments. In Kentucky, the head of a hospital system told members of Congress that his broker had pulled out of an agreement to deliver four shipments of desperately needed medical gear after the supplies were commandeered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado thought his state had secured 500 ventilators before they were “swept up by FEMA.” (Kanno-Youngs and Nicas, 4/6)
CNN: States Desperate For Medical Supplies Turn To Each Other For Help
As some parts of the country get closer to reaching the peak of coronavirus cases in the weeks ahead and in the midst of widespread complaints of the federal government's response, governors are stepping in to loan resources and move critical supplies directly to the hot spots. Several states that are not currently facing the same level of coronavirus outbreaks as New York, Michigan and Louisiana have started lending ventilators to help ease the strain the crisis has put on medical workers and hospitals facing a lack of supplies and medical equipment. States sharing ventilators may be essential as there are only about 9,500 ventilators left in the Strategic National Stockpile, and by the week of April 13 only an estimated 3,200 more will have been acquired, according to the House Oversight Committee after a telephone briefing by Federal Emergency Management Agency officials. (Zaslav, Judd and Diaz, 4/6)
ProPublica: How New York City’s Emergency Ventilator Stockpile Ended Up On The Auction Block
In July 2006, with an aggressive and novel strain of the flu circulating in Asia and the Middle East, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled a sweeping pandemic preparedness plan. Using computer models to calculate how a disease could spread rapidly through the city’s five boroughs, experts concluded New York needed a substantial stockpile of both masks and ventilators. If the city confronted a pandemic on the scale of the 1918 Spanish flu, the experts found, it would face a “projected shortfall of between 2,036 and 9,454 ventilators.” ... In the end, the alarming predictions failed to spur action. (Elliott, Waldman and Kaplan, 4/6)
NBC News: Trump's Use Of Medical Stockpile Veers From Past Administrations, Leaving States In The Lurch
President Donald Trump is telling state governors battling the coronavirus to get ventilators and protective gear on their own, but officials who helped build the national stockpile say the trove of medical material was designed for this moment. Triggering confusion and competition among state governments, Trump has insisted that the more than $7 billion stockpile of medical supplies is not there simply to be deployed to states, but also for the federal government to use, adding states should have had their own reserves. (Pettypiece, 4/6)
The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Pandemic Spurs Stanford Researchers To Create Hospital Resource Calculator
Responding to the national surge in Covid-19 patients at hospitals, researchers at Stanford University have created online calculators to help policy makers and hospital administrators everywhere better allocate their staff and equipment. Americans were told over the weekend that the worst days are ahead. Confirmed infections in the U.S. stood at more than 357,000 Monday, with the death toll at 10,524, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. (McCormick, 4/7)
NPR: U.S. Hospitals Surveyed Plea For More Federal Coordination Of Supplies
Hospitals are trying to make their own disinfectant from in-house chemicals, running low on toilet paper and food, and trying to source face masks from nail salons. Those are some of the findings from a snapshot survey of how America's hospitals are handling the coronavirus crisis. The survey was done over five days, from March 23-27, by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General. Ann Maxwell, who oversaw the report as assistant inspector general for evaluation and inspections, says it's "the first objective, independent, national look at how hospitals are addressing the COVID-19 response." (Simmons-Duffin, 4/6)
ABC News: More Than 300 US Hospitals Warn Of Supply Shortages In Coronavirus Fight, Watchdog Says
Hospitals fighting the coronavirus outbreak in the United States aren't just worried about having sufficient protective masks and ventilators, they're also worried about having enough toilet paper, healthy staff, and money to pay their bills in the coming weeks of the health crisis. That's according to a new report from the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services, the nonpartisan watchdog office for the agency leading the nation's coronavirus response. (Siegel and Flaherty, 4/6)
NPR: Hospitals Face Financial Squeeze As They Prep For Coronavirus
As many cities and regions of the country brace for a surge of coronavirus patients over the next few weeks, hospitals are scrambling to get ready. The increase in costs to convert beds, buy equipment and increase staffing time in order to care for critically ill COVID-19 patients is adding up at a time when revenues are down. And the resources they have to turn to may vary, depending on the demographics of the patients they serve. (Neighmond, 4/6)
Kaiser Health News: Nursing Homes Have Thousands Of Ventilators That Hospitals Desperately Need
As the number of COVID-19 patients climbs and health officials hunt for ventilators to treat them, nursing homes across the United States have a cache ― about 8,200 of the lifesaving machines, according to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Most of the machines are in use, often by people who’ve suffered a brain injury or stroke. Some of those residents are in a vegetative state and have remained on a ventilator for years. (Faryon, 4/7)
