As shipments of personal protective equipment begin to trickle into Arkansas, Little Rock officials and donors are trying to fill the gaps by gathering and distributing private donations.
The city's emergency operations center at 7000 Murray St. has become the site for donations of masks, gloves and other protective gear to be distributed to health care workers.
City emergency management specialist Nathan Spicer said Friday that the center had on hand close to 550 N95 masks, 218 bottles of hand sanitizer and a small number of protective goggles and coveralls for hospital workers.
He said the city had received about 480 masks from one donor and about 30 each from two others.
He added that the shipment of hand sanitizer the center received Friday was a donation from the Arkansas Pharmacy Association. The association requested that a portion of that donation go to homeless shelters.
"We're thankful for all the donations," Spicer said. "They'll all go to very good causes throughout the city. We're just thankful."
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Spicer said Friday that the city has sent out a request to hospitals and clinics to learn more about their equipment needs and was waiting to hear back. He said the city already had distributed some supplies.
Acquiring protective gear for hospital workers has been a challenge for the state, which received its first procured shipment on Friday, Cam Patterson, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences chancellor, said at a briefing.
The city also began soliciting monetary donations for two relief efforts the last week of March: an emergency relief fund to purchase personal protective equipment for health care professionals and emergency responders and the food relief effort coordinated by the nonprofit World Central Kitchen.
As of Friday, Little Rock had received 26 donations totaling $4,735 to the protective-equipment fund, city finance director Sara Lenehan said.
Another city effort to raise funds for supplies and meals kicked off Friday. The Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau is selling custom T-shirts available in five colors. Half of each purchase goes directly to the city's relief fund.
The shirts bear the city's "Big on Little Rock" advertising slogan, which it revamped in February from its 1990s marketing campaign.
Dr. Dean Kumpuris, an at-large city director, practicing gastroenterologist and the leader of the city's covid-19 task force of health care professionals, said recently that he has been in contact with individuals and corporations who are interested in donating personal protective equipment.
One large donor is Simmons Bank. The corporation in Pine Bluff donated 1,500 masks and 2,000 gloves. The supplies were delivered to CHI St. Vincent Hospital for distribution by the task force late last month, said Steve Massanelli, executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Simmons.
"Regulators require all banks to have a pandemic plan, which includes a supply of masks and gloves," Massanelli said in an email Tuesday.
Simmons maintains an inventory of personal protective equipment to cover the bank's 250 sites across eight states. The bank temporarily closed 50 sites to stem the spread of the coronavirus and allocated a portion of its supply to local efforts, Massanelli said.
Kumpuris said at a task force meeting Monday that he was also in touch with an individual who offered up about 1,500 N95 masks for the city to distribute. He said the person wanted to stay anonymous.
Metro on 04/05/2020