Delivering unused supplies to hospitals is needlessly challenging, orthopedic surgeon says

Orthopedic

Ventilators and personal protective equipment are sitting unused in closed surgery centers around Atlanta, but getting the supplies to local hospitals is a challenge, foot and ankle surgeon Craig Camasta, DPM, told FOX 5 Atlanta.

Dr. Camasta halted operations at his elective surgery center during the COVID-19 pandemic, like many of the other 350-plus Medicare-certified surgery centers in Atlanta. He estimated that these centers are equipped with around 1,000 ventilators and anesthesia machines.

A coordinated community response is needed to get those supplies to hospitals on the COVID-19 front lines, according to Dr. Camasta.

"Gowns, gloves, masks. There's a lot of that in the community. It just needs to be coordinated, and the state has a record of where all these facilities are," he told FOX 5 Atlanta.

Dr. Camasta even has a group of physicians "willing to get a pickup truck and haul them into the hospitals," but they're unsure whether the donations would be accepted. However, when FOX 5 Atlanta reached out to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital, officials said they're working to coordinate a supply drop-off with Dr. Camasta's surgery center.

Dr. Camasta wants other surgery centers to find ways to get needed equipment to hospitals on the COVID-19 front lines.

"It seems we're being a little more reactive than proactive to try and get these to where they need to be used the most," he said.

 

 

 

 

 

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