Inspector general finds hospitals face ‘severe’ shortages of needed coronavirus supplies

Hospitals across the country reported serious shortages of tests and protective equipment in the fight against coronavirus and concerns about being able to keep health workers safe, according to a new inspector general report.

The report from the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general released Monday found “severe” shortages of tests for hospitals to use and “widespread” shortfalls of protective equipment, known as PPE, to keep health workers safe.

“Hospitals reported that widespread shortages of PPE put staff and patients at risk,” stated the report conducted March 23-27. It consisted of interviews with administrators from 323 randomly selected hospitals across the country.  Continue reading.