TVHC Accepting Donations of PPE

Contributed by: Andrea Chavez, Communications & Marketing Specialist, Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center

As a community health center, we help to relieve the urgent care and emergency rooms of Alameda County hospitals by offering COVID-19 testing at our clinics.

To make this happen, over the period of one week, we began holding daily site meetings and drills, screening patients at the doors of our clinics, implemented telehealth visits, and took steps to comply with the statewide shelter in place policy.

Although we have made giant strides in a short period, we are still trying to overcome the same challenge as every other health care organization across the globe – providing enough personal protection equipment for our staff.

We do not want our supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) to limit how many patients we can serve for COVID-19.

For this reason, we have begun accepting donations of PPE such as masks, disposable gloves and gowns, N95 respirators and face shields, from small businesses and asking for donations through our different media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

As Bay Area hospitals prep for a surge of COVID-19 patients, the role of community health centers is more important than ever, since we are the ones that serve patients who otherwise have no place to go besides the emergency room.

We have been encouraged by the generosity of businesses and organizations in our community that have offered to donate whatever they can, from hand-sewn masks to boxes of gowns. It warms our hearts to know that in such uncertain times, our community is eager to help.