Governor Larry Hogan announced that the State of Maryland has now distributed more than 50 million units of personal protective equipment (PPE) to hospitals, state agencies, local health departments, and front line workers. Ramping up supply of PPE is one of the state’s key building blocks for COVID-19 recovery.
“One of the biggest challenges Maryland and our nation have faced in battling coronavirus has been ensuring we have a steady supply of PPE for our health care workers, first responders, and essential employees,” said Governor Hogan. “Our multi-agency task force continues to make incredible progress on this key building block for recovery. They are working around the clock to ramp up Maryland’s supply of PPE, with large deliveries coming into the state’s warehouses on a regular basis.”
To date, the state has distributed more than 50.8 million units of PPE, including: 15 million pairs of gloves, 1.5 million gowns, 19.4 million surgical masks, 8.4 million KN95 masks, 5.7 million N95 masks, and 854,200 face shields.
In addition to fulfilling PPE requests made through the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), the state makes regular allocations to state agencies, emergency medical services, as well as local health departments, which serve as a clearinghouse for hospitals, long-term care facilities, and child care providers.
The state established the Maryland COVID-19 Emergency Relief Manufacturing Fund to incentivize Maryland businesses to manufacture PPE and other supplies to meet the current needs of the health care industry. To date, the Maryland Department of Commerce has awarded $3.2 million for PPE production to companies that applied to the fund.
The state also created the Maryland Manufacturing Network Supplier Portal, an online platform where buyers, such as health care systems, local emergency management agencies, and essential companies, can identify Maryland suppliers that have PPE, health care equipment, and other essential items.
