Bellingham hospital receives donation of hand-sewn masks to aid in coronavirus fight
Washington State Patrol Trooper Anthony Reese tweeted that he helped Seattle radio personality Don O’Neill deliver a load of donated, sewn masks to St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham Monday evening, March 30.
The masks were delivered, “after hearing they were low on some PPE (personal protection equipment),” Reese tweeted, using Trooper Heather Axtman’s account.
The masks were sewn by the Refugee Artisan Initiative, a group that employs refugee and immigrant woman to sew and make handcrafted products and has been sewing masks to help area caregivers treat COVID-19.
“They turned their needles to mask making and sewed over 1,200 masks within the last week! They have been distributing them to various hospitals within King and Snohomish county and now Whatcom County too!” Reese tweeted.
Approximately 400 masks were delivered to the hospital Monday, Axtman told The Bellingham Herald.
PeaceHealth Chief Executive Northwest, Charles Prosper told The Herald last weekend that the hospital has a “stable” supply of PPE and is working to add to its reserve, though it is asking care workers to conserve when possible to help prepare for a potential surge in COVID-19 cases.
The Washington State Nurses Association, which represents 900 nurses at St. Joseph hospital, said in a statement released Saturday that it has filed a complaint with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries over what it believes is the hospital’s failure to provide a safe work environment.
Included in its complaints, the association said nurses “are being given one surgical mask per day and being told to keep it in a paper bag between patients, and other unsafe measures.”
Don O’Neill was part of “The Ron & Don Show” on KIRO radio in Seattle until it was canceled in January 2019, but later returned as a podcast.
