As coronavirus toll mounts, NJ orders hospitals to give daily stats on supplies, patients

New Jersey for the first time is requiring all hospitals and medical facilities to provide a daily update on their supplies of protective medical equipment, including ventilators, and to report how many patients are hospitalized.

State officials made that declaration Saturday after announcing that the number of coronavirus cases now stands at 11,124 with 32 more deaths for a total of 140 fatalities. 

The state also received a new stash of health care equipment shipped overnight from the federal stockpile, Gov. Phil Murphy said Saturday, a grant that came after he spoke to President Donald Trump on Friday.

As New Jersey prepares for a surge in patients requiring critical care in two weeks that is already being felt in northern New Jersey, state officials and New Jersey's congressional delegation continue to stress the state's "desperate need" for ventilators and personal protective gear needed for health care workers and first responders.

After a one-on-one call Friday afternoon with Trump, New Jersey received a slug of personal protective gear from the feds, including close to 121,000 N95 masks, 287,000 surgical masks, 62,000 face shields, 51,000 surgical gloves, 3,500 coveralls, 268,000 pairs of gloves and 1,000 medical beds, said Police Superintendent Pat Callahan.

New Jersey also received 200 ventilators from the federal stockpile, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said. On Friday she said that while the state should be able to handle critical care, "ventilators are another story" and the state requested 2,300 ventilators from the federal government.

On Saturday, Murphy signed an executive order requiring health care facilities including licensed acute care hospitals, long-term care facilities, and temporary medical facilities, to report daily numbers on their bed capacity, ventilator needs and supplies to the state starting Sunday.

"This will allow us to more efficiently and effectively manage the flow of personal protective equipment and to have the most up-to-date data possible," Murphy said. "Having a clear understanding of where each hospital's inventory stands is critical for us to make sure we're being proactive in distributing PPE."

In its scramble to find available protective medical equipment, New Jersey has been forced to compete with other states and some countries all looking to buy in an increasingly fierce market.

While it has cooperated with other state governments on restrictions and other measures to stem the spread of the virus, New Jersey is not pooling its purchasing power with other states, Murphy said.

"Not a crazy idea by any means," Murphy said. "The last thing we need to do is to be bumping into each other in the acquisition market, which has happened." 

Persichilli said that in the past week, the state distributed 65 ventilators to hospitals that had urgent needs, and that New Jersey will soon be convening a professional advisory group to discuss and be prepared for the possibility of co-venting, or using one ventilator to support two individuals. 

"At this point, it’s getting more than a little tight with the ventilators," she said. 

Persichilli learned this morning that a couple of northern New Jersey hospitals "went on divert," or turned away ambulances from their emergency rooms, because they did not have enough health care workers in the ERs. 

"The north is really feeling the stress right now so our goal is to work with the hospitals, increase their critical care capacity, give them the equipment they need to the degree that we have it and give them the guidance that they need if they have to start sharing equipment," Persichilli said. "We would only do that along with the guidance of CDC and the FDA and safely."

New Jersey required all businesses, non-hospital health care facilities and colleges with personal protective gear or medical machines to tell the state by 5 p.m. Friday at covid19.nj.gov/ppereport. Close to 3,700 businesses filled out the survey.

Anyone looking to donate equipment like masks, gowns or gloves for health care workers and first responders can submit that information through that website. 

Ashley Balcerzak is a reporter in the New Jersey Statehouse. For unlimited access to her work covering New Jersey’s legislature and political power structure, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: balcerzaka@northjersey.com Twitter: @abalcerzak