Sarasota-area healthcare workers at three local hospitals will benefit from donations of personal protective equipment (PPE) made by Keiser University Sarasota. Nearly 7,000 pieces of protective equipment were recently donated to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Manatee Memorial Hospital, and Venice Regional Medical Center.

 

The donation included isolation gowns, surgical masks, and sterile and exam gloves donated from Keiser’s nursing and healthcare labs. The donations totaled about $700.

 

“When we learned of the PPE shortage facing frontline healthcare workers at our local hospitals, we immediately conducted an inventory of our PPE supply to see how Keiser University could assist,” said Michele Morgan, campus president at Keiser University Sarasota. “Our local hospitals are such a critical component of our students’ educational experience and we felt it was an absolute must to support our educational partners while also contributing to the PPE supply necessary to protect hospital employees.”

 

The equipment will be used to assist healthcare workers at the three sites respond to the growing COVID-19 epidemic. As of April 14, there were 21,091 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Florida including 230 in Sarasota County and 252 in Manatee County. Since the pandemic began, 77 people have been hospitalized for treatment of the COVID-19 disease in Sarasota County. As of April 5, Sarasota Memorial Hospital, the largest in Sarasota and Manatee Counties, was treating 34 COVID-19 patients.