Oklahoma’s hospitals face a massive shortage of medical supplies.
Earlier this month, the state requested hundreds of thousands of facemasks, shields and surgical gowns from the federal government. But according to a ProPublica report, has only received a fraction of those supplies.
And now, Oklahoma’s State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister is urging the state’s schools to donate surplus medical supplies to hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though supplies in school nursing offices across the state wouldn’t fill in that gap, Hofmeister says they would “make a measurable difference.” Needed supplies include masks, eye protection, gloves, disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer.
