As Coronavirus cases continue to drastically increase in Michigan and hospitals are faced with medical equipment shortages, Senator Gary Peters has been fighting to ensure health care providers have the personal protective equipment (PPE) and supplies they need to safely do their job.
As Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Peters has been working with FEMA administrator Peter Gaynor to press for PPE to be allocated to Michigan and recently convened a call with FEMA that resulted in swift action and clearance for more N95 respirators to be shipped to the Great Lakes state.Peters also pushed for significantly more funding in the bipartisan Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act than was initially proposed, securing $100 billion for hospitals and health care workers, and $50 billion for the health care system, which will help ensure nurses, doctors and health care providers have the PPE they need. Early on, Peters called on the Trump administration to use the Defense Production Act to address widespread shortages in medical supplies.
The work to address this crisis is not done yet, which is why Peters continues to work with Michigan health care facilities and health officials to ensure they have the assistance they need, and has proposed a three-step plan to ensure medical workers on the front lines of responding to this crisis can get the gloves, masks and personal protective equipment they need as quickly as possible.
Read more about Peters’ ongoing work to secure PPE for Michigan hospitals:
WZZM: Sen. Peters announces proposal that would ensure medical supplies availability during pandemic
Sen. Gary Peters, a Democratic senator from Michigan, announced a proposal Sunday that would ensure the national government is helping the country’s public health system to prepare to handle the influx of patients as the cases of COVID-19 continue to rise.
Peters’ three-step proposal would help prevent the spread of the new virus by ensuring that there are enough personal protective equipment and medical supplies for health care providers and sick patients.
WNEM: Sen Peters introduces bill to ensure medical supplies for health care workers, hospitals
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters introduced a bill to help stop the spread of COVID-19. It would help make sure the federal government is helping public health systems prepare to handle an influx of patients. The three-step plan would provide respirators, ventilators, and other critical equipment.
Detroit News: After pleas, Michigan receives additional N95 masks; more on the way
Peters, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that oversees FEMA, spoke with FEMA administrator Peter Gaynor on Friday night to push for personal protective equipment and other supplies for Michigan, the Peters aide said.
Gaynor then provided the clearance for more N95 respirators to be shipped to Michigan, according to the aide.
The N95 masks arrived in the state following pleas from Whitmer and Michigan lawmakers this week for more crucial health and safety equipment to help hospitals and facilities facing shortages.
MLive: Doctors on front lines of Michigan’s coronavirus crisis: ‘It seems like the sky is falling’
Gary Peters, D-Michigan, said obtaining more protective gear for health-care workers is a “No.1 priority” right now.
“Ramping up production of supplies is critically important because one thing you can’t ramp up are doctors and nurses,” he said. “We have to protect the doctors and nurses and other medical professionals so they don’t get sick, because we’re going to need them to continue to provide care to people in the weeks and months ahead. The priority is to keep them healthy.”
But there’s a nationwide shortage of those supplies, Peters said, and it now appears the Federal Emergency Management Agency has “bought up” personal protection equipment, with the intention to distributing them to states.
MLive: Michigan senators say help for hospitals should follow $2T coronavirus aid package
A total of $100 billion — roughly 5% of the funding — is set aside for grants to hospitals and health care organizations. The funding can be used to purchase protective gear for health care workers and assist hospitals facing what Peters called a “financial crisis.”
“As they treat patients for the coronavirus, that means a lot of the other procedures they do where they generate revenue is not coming into the hospital and our rural hospitals, in particular, are going to face incredible stress,” he said.
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Peters is ranking member of a Senate subcommittee tasked with oversight of FEMA. He said the federal government did not have enough gear in stock to deal with a pandemic, and called on Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act to compel manufactures to create more medical equipment.
“The demands of hospitals across Michigan are significant and they’re going up as we continue to see cases accelerating,” Peters said. “At this point, the personal protection equipment coming from the federal government has not kept pace with the increasing demand. They need to step that up.”
Peters said he’s working to make sure personal protective equipment is allocated states where the need is greatest.
