Ohio’s nursing homes don’t have enough personal protective equipment to last another week, according to the federal agency that deals with Medicare and Medicaid services.
A spokesman for a union representing health care workers in nursing homes says those facilities have been hit the hardest by this pandemic. Yet Anthony Caldwell of the SEIU 1199 says there isn’t enough equipment on hand to protect workers and patients in Ohio’s long-term skilled nursing facilities.
“Fifteen percent of nursing homes do not have a one-week supply of N-95 masks, 6% of nursing homes do not have a one-week supply of surgical masks, and 9% of nursing homes do not have a one-week supply of gowns," Caldwell says.
Caldwell says it’s vital that the federal government step up immediately. The latest numbers from the Ohio Department of Health show that as many as 70% of Ohio’s COVID-19 deaths have been in nursing homes.
