Colo. congressional delegation asks for continued PPE to nursing homes from FEMA

By Michael Karlik- Colorado Politics

***Congressman Lamborn was not directly mentioned in the article but we was in the letter.

Colorado’s congressional delegation urged the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday to include assisted living and other senior care facilities in its distribution plans for personal protective equipment.

Facilities housing seniors “have been the epicenter of both outbreaks and deaths in Colorado and across the country,” reads the letter, organized by U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, to agency Administrator Peter T. Gaynor. “COVID-19 linked deaths in Colorado’s senior living facilities continue to be the single largest contributor to COVID-19 fatalities in our state, representing approximately 61% of total deaths.”

The letter pointed out that FEMA’s plans include delivery of protective equipment to nursing homes the week of May 18 and May 25. As of May 14, FEMA reported that it had delivered 561,622 N95 respirators, 623,136 gloves, 107,305 face shields and 617,524 million surgical masks to Colorado. The equipment comes from a combination of purchases, donations and distribution from the national stockpile.

The members requested that deliveries continue through June and July.

“It is also critically important to expand the criteria governing which facilities receive these supplies to include assisted living facilities and intermediate care facilities, which also care for Medicaid enrollees, because they too have faced staggering infection and death rates and are in desperate need of these resources,” the letter also requests.