Lexington Medical Center seeking donations of homemade face masks

Lexington Medical Center is asking for donations of homemade masks, the hospital announced April 16.

The cloth face coverings would be used by hospital employees who work “in non-clinical areas and are not involved in direct patient care,” according to a news release.

By giving those employees alternative face coverings, the hospital can preserve its valuable supply of Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE, for health care workers who interact directly with patients sick with COVID-19, the news release said.

A nationwide shortage of PPE has been one of the defining stresses of the coronavirus pandemic for health care workers. Many hospitals and health systems have asked communities for homemade cloth masks and donations of other equipment in order to make PPE supplies last. Some other clinics and other health care facilities are seeing COVID-19 patients without the recommended protective gear because the supplies are so hard to come by.

For more information, or to schedule an appointment to drop off masks, reach the Lexington Medical Center Foundation at (803) 791-2540 or email Thomas Tafel at tetafel@lexhealth.org.

Lexington Medical Center is located at 2720 Sunset Blvd. in West Columbia. Visitor access to the hospital and its network of facilities has been severely restricted during the coronavirus outbreak.