March 27, 2020
1. PPE and Use of Personal Masks
Our top priority continues to be safely caring for our patients and protecting your health and safety. We are not running out of supplies, we have supplies on hand to meet our daily needs. KP is seeking out all sources of PPE and related protective equipment to be ready for an expected arrival of a surge in our medical centers due to COVID-19.
In clinical areas where staff are caring for non-COVID-19 or persons under investigation and in nonclinical areas and areas where staff has patient and member-facing encounters, staff members may use masks brought from home, should they choose. If you bring your own mask, it must be properly maintained, functional, and clean.
Please view this video on the proper use of personal protective equipment and distribute to your team.
2. PPE Donations
We appreciate the generosity of community members and organizations offering to donate unused supplies to Kaiser Permanente patients and staff. We have partnered with a national carrier to efficiently collect local donations and inspect them. In most cases, we respectfully ask that people avoid bringing donations directly to our medical centers, so our care teams can focus on receiving patients with urgent healthcare needs.
- Please email donation opportunity information to [email protected]. We will contact the donor with further instructions, including how and where to send us the product.
- Although discouraged, any curbside donations dropped at a medical facility will need to be collected and securely stored by local staff.
Items acceptable for donation include:
- Swabs for collecting screening samples
- Medical-grade and industrial-grade N95 masks
- Other masks (surgical, isolation, and all others)
- Gowns (surgical and isolation)
- Face shields
- Goggles
- Gloves
- Antiseptic wipes
- Hand sanitizer