Updated 4 p.m. Monday, March 23 to add additional locations
A shortage of medical supplies is leaving Bay Area hospitals scrambling as they contend with increasing numbers of COVID-19 patients.
Doctors and nurses are reporting surgical masks and other personal protective equipment are running low at some facilities, and they are being asked to reuse supplies that are normally discarded after one use.
Dr. Alison Cooke, assistant chief of hospital medicine for Kaiser Permanente-San Francisco, warned recently that her institution had less than a weekâs supply of medical masks for doctors and nurses. âIf you have any masks or safety goggles at home, please consider giving them to your nurse and doctor neighbors,â she wrote on the neighborhood social networking site Nextdoor.
Officials are releasing personal protective equipment from the Strategic National Stockpile, and manufacturers like Honeywell and 3M have boosted production of critical medical supplies.
But for now, thatâs not enough. So charities, corporations and ordinary Americans are stepping up, donating everything from N95 masks to hospital gowns, disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer.
Donation Opportunities KQED Has Confirmed:
Asian Health Services – Seeking non-sterile gloves, goggles, face shields (3/4″ length or full length), hand sanitizer, surgical masks, wipes and gowns. Donations may be mailed to Asian Health Services, 101 8th Street, Suite 100, Oakland, CA 94607 Attn: Vicky Mak or drop off between Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you are dropping off items, please contact Vicky Mak at 510-735-3145, and the staff will come out to get the donations. Contra Costa County – Seeking eye protection, antibacterial wipes (no baby wipes), unopened boxes of N95 and surgical masks, medical gowns. Donation centers will be open Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Questions? Call 844-729-8410. West Contra Costa County: 151 Linus Pauling Drive, Hercules Central Contra Costa County: 1750 Oak Park Blvd., Pleasant Hill East Contra Costa County: 4545 Delta Fair Blvd., Antioch Disability Justice Culture Club – Seeking masks for distribution to disabled, unhoused, poor and other highly vulnerable people. Hand-sewn masks accepted. Drop off location is near 87th and Bancroft in Oakland. Please call in advance to arrange drop-off day/time and get the address: 301-741-6186. El Camino Health – Seeking new, unopened gloves, isolation gowns, hard goggles, eye shields, shoe covers, nurse caps, germicidal disinfecting surface wipes, Clorox disinfecting wipes, masks. Please call the foundation at 650-940-7154 or email foundation@elcaminohealth.org to make a donation. Hospice by the Bay – (Donation website) Seeking non-vented googles, face shields, hand sanitizer, masks (N95, surgical, isolation), gowns. Donations can be mailed or dropped off Monday Ââ Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Larkspur: Hospice by the Bay, 17 E. Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Larkspur, CA 94939, Attention: PPE Donation Sonoma: Hospice by the Bay, 355 West Napa Street, Suite B, Sonoma, CA 95476, Attention: PPE Donation San Francisco: Hospice by the Bay, 180 Redwood Street, Suite 350, San Francisco, CA 94102, Attention: PPE Donation If you are dropping off donations, please knock or use the intercom. A staff member will come out to accept your donation. If you have an unusually large donation please call 415-927-2273.
Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center – Seeking goggles, face shields, hand sanitizer, masks (N95, surgical, and isolation masks), isolation or surgical gowns and wipes. Donations may be mailed to Kaiser Permanente, 2130 O’Farrell St., San Francisco, CA 94115 Attn: Hospital Command Center, or dropped off at the loading dock Monday to Friday 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m at the address above. If you are dropping off donations, please call 415-833-2593 and a staff member will come to accept the donation. If you need to make arrangements after the loading dock closes at 2:30 p.m. contact the hospital operator at 415-833-2000 and you will be contacted within 24 hours to schedule a delivery. Mills Peninsula Medical Center – Seeking N95 masks, surgical masks, face shields, goggles, gowns, and nitrile gloves. Please bring them to the hospital front entrance between 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. – noon on weekends. 1501 Trousdale Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010 North East Medical Services (NEMS) – Seeking gloves, goggles, face shields, hand sanitizer, surgical masks, N95 masks, wipes and gowns. Donations may be mailed to NEMS, 2171 Junipero Serra Blvd. Suite 310, Daly City, CA 94014 Attn: Andrey Chow. Questions? 415-352-5004 or info@nems.org. If you would like to drop off items at one of their clinics, please contact Andrey Chow to arrange for drop off during the week. Palo Alto Medical Foundation – Seeking N95 masks, surgical masks, goggles, face shields, gloves and other supplies. Drop off donations Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the following locations. San Carlos: Palo Alto Medical Foundation, 301 Industrial Road Palo Alto: Palo Alto Medical Foundation, 795 El Camino Real For larger donations please drop off at: Palo Alto Medical Foundation Warehouse, 3544 Bassett Street in Santa Clara. Donations can be made between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday to Friday. Questions? Email Luis Alvarez at alvarel3@sutterhealth.org or call 844-987-6099.
San Francisco Center for Jewish Living – Seeking unopened and unused masks, gloves, protective goggles, gowns, swabs and viral transport. Accepting donations at 302 Silver Ave. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Questions? Email PPE@sfcjl.org or call 415-469-2130. San Mateo County – Seeking nitrile gloves, surgical masks, N95 masks, surgical gowns, fluid resistant gowns and other PPE. Donations can be dropped off at Maple Street Correctional Facility, 1300 Maple Street, Redwood City. Look for the âDonationsâ signs in the front parking lot where there will be staffers available to collect your donation. Santa Clara Valley Medical Foundation – (Donation website) Seeking N95 masks, hand sanitizer, gloves, goggles and more. Full list here. Donations can be delivered between the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 2400 Clove Drive, San Jose (on the campus of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center). Please call 408-885-5299 before delivery. Questions? Call 408-885-5299 or email vmcfoundation@hhs.sccgov.org. Stanford Medicine in Redwood City and Livermore – (Donation website) Seeking masks, wipes, gowns, hand sanitizer, and more. Donations may be dropped off in person or mailed. Redwood City: 550 Broadway St. 7 days a week, 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Livermore: 1119 E Stanley Blvd, Livermore, CA. Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mail: Stanford Health Care, Attention: Supply Donations Center, 820 Quarry Rd. Extension, Palo Alto, CA 94304. Taft Omni Health Center – Seeking sewn masks. They may be sent to Taft Omni Health Center, 12014 Manorwood Street, Bakersfield, CA 93311 Attn: Analu Montez. University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) – (Donation website) Seeking N95 masks, gloves, goggles, face shields and other supplies. UCSF accepting donations at the following locations from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. beginning on March 23: UCSF Mount Zion Medical Center: 1600 Divisadero St., San Francisco, Semicircle driveway UCSF Mission Center Building: 1855 Folsom St., San Francisco, Entrance in the parking lot on Harrison at 15th Street UCSF Benioff Childrenâs Hospital Oakland: 747 52nd St., Oakland, Ambassador Desk #GetMePPE Bay Area – Seeking N95 masks, gloves, eye protection. This volunteer group is donating to several Bay Area health care facilities, including Highland Hospital, Kaiser and UCSF. Volunteers are available for pick up and drop off. Fill out this form and they’ll be in touch.
Other resources
DonatePPE.org – a repository of Bay Area hospitals and their protocol for accepting donations. GiveUsPPE.org – Website connecting those in need of PPE with donors in 41 states, including California. This nationwide crowdsourced spreadsheet offers additional donation opportunities for other Bay Area medical facilities. Additional projects across the country are being aggregated in this document.
Have something to add to the list? Let us know oallenprice@kqed.org.
Why is there such a shortage of face masks and other protective gear?
Fear of COVID-19 is generating demand that far outstrips supply. Because no one has immunity to the novel coronavirus, doctors and nurses are exercising caution by wearing protective gear when they see almost any patient with respiratory symptoms or a fever â most of whom donât have COVID-19.
At the same time, panic-buying of N95 face masks and other gear has reduced available supplies. Some people have even stolen surgical masks and hand sanitizer from clinics. Now, with more than 35,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. as of Monday morning and the number rising sharply, public health officials fear hospitals will soon be overwhelmed with patients, further boosting demand for protective gear.
The supply chain for medical equipment relies heavily on factories overseas â mostly in China and Taiwan â increasingly commandeered by governments for domestic use. And shortages of the fabric and other raw materials used to make masks are beginning to be a problem. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued bleak guidance for hospitals facing shortages, including using homemade masks. The Deaconess Health System in Indiana recently asked the public to sew and donate masks that meet CDC protocols, as did Providence hospitals in Washington state.
California Healthline contributed to this report. Read their full story: With Medical Safety Gear Scarce, People Are Stepping Up. Hereâs Help On Ways To Help.
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