Senior Living Facilities In Colorado Need More Personal Protective Equipment

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4) - Senior living facilities in Colorado are now being directed by the state health department to isolate and treat the non life-threatening COVID-19 patients inside the nursing homes, rather than sending those patients to the hospital. This means senior living staff need more personal protective equipment, or PPE, to prevent further spread of the deadly virus.

However, nurses tell CBS4 they're having trouble finding that gear.

"Our efforts are very frustrating right now," said Nathalie Knopp, a registered nurse and Director of Clinical Staff Development for Christian Living Communities. "It's maybe not being shipped out of China, it's being held in customs, and so we are being shorted, and we're not able to procure the PPE that we really require."

Due to the fact that nursing homes are having to take care of COVID-19 patients on site, Knopp hopes senior living facilities will soon be put at a higher priority for PPE needs, to be at a level playing field with hospitals.

"The communities that service the elderly, the most compromised individuals to the COVID-19, really need that PPE as well," Knopp said. "So, I would really ask that the senior living communities are at the top of that need list, as well as the hospitals."

The Someren Glen senior living facility, in Centennial, which is one of nine nursing homes in Colorado under the Christian Living umbrella, has one resident who has contracted COVID-19.

"Right now, we have isolation protocols in place with that community, and no other tests have come back positive at this time," said Pam Sullivan, the Vice President of Communications for Christian Living Communities. "That is thanks to having good PPE stock, to make sure we identify, isolate, and eradicate the virus as soon as possible."

While they have a good stock right now, Sullivan says that likely won't be the case for long.

So, she needs the public's help to find more PPE.

If you can donate PPE supplies, or have leads on where more PPE can be purchased or procured, you're asked to email:

• info@clcmail.org
• nknopp@clcmail.org

Sullivan says her organization is also now taking homemade cloth mask donations.

"We will give those to our care partners to put over their surgical masks, so what it does is the cloth mask then protects the surgical mask from becoming contaminated, compromised, wet, or something like that," Sullivan explained. "This will preserve our PPE supply longer."

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The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says it is doing everything it can to procure more PPE from additional sources, and then distribute through regular channels.

It encourages organizations to work with county emergency managers to acquire more PPE.