Reusable PPE Helps Health Systems Navigate Pandemic

A recent blog post detailed the success a pair of healthcare systems had when shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) were commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic.

UCLA Health, which switched to reusable isolation gowns in 2014, and Carilion Clinic in Southwest Virginia, which switched to reusable gowns during the 2009-’10 H1N1 outbreak, didn’t deal with the shortages and supply-chain disruptions that other health systems had during the pandemic.

Both health systems report cost savings from the switch to reusable isolation gowns. In addition to the cost savings, benefits that recent studies have found include reusable isolation gowns outperform disposable gowns, use 200% less energy and water, generate less waste, and have a smaller carbon footprint than disposables.

To read the full article, click here. For more information on TRSA’s efforts to promote the use of reusable PPE in healthcare, contact Vice President of Government Relations Kevin Schwalb at kschwalb@trsa.org.