California Launches $1.4 Billion Plan to Buy Medical Equipment
California Launches $1.4 Billion Plan to Buy Medical Equipment
(Bloomberg) -- California Governor Gavin Newsom has secured a deal to import 200 million masks on a monthly basis for health care workers, grocery store employees and others on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic, part of a $1.4 billion planned investment in personal protective equipment.
Some of that gear, Newsom said at a press briefing Wednesday, could be shared with other states facing shortages.
“California is just uniquely resourced,” Newsom said. It can use “the kind of scale that few other states, few other countries can even resource, so we’re pleased to do that and it’s our responsibility to do more.”
The announcement came as the House Committee on Oversight and Reform Wednesday released a report detailing how the federal government has failed to distribute enough personal protective equipment and medical supplies to states reeling from the pandemic. Governors have said President Donald Trump urged them to seek out their own equipment and supplies, and that’s left states competing not only with one another but also with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
California -- the most populous U.S. and fifth largest economy --- has taken on a national role in the crisis, crowd-sourcing supplies and doling them out to other states in need and even contributing 500 ventilators to the national stockpile. The 200 million monthly masks California acquires may also support the PPE needs of other states.
“While we’ve had a little support from the national stockpile, we haven’t relied on that,” Newsom said, adding that he’s been working closely with FEMA. “We made a big, bold bet on a new strategy and it is bearing fruit.”
California has distributed more than 41.5 million N95 masks in response to the pandemic thus far, with only about 1 million of those coming from the federal government. Newsom said he is requesting the $1.4 billion from the state’s disaster relief funds to invest in protective gear. The first tranche will cost $495 million.
“That is not an insignificant amount of money, but we’re dealing at a time where we need to go boldly,” he said.
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