DeLauro Statement on HHS OIG Report Outlining Hospitals’ and Healthcare Workers’ Needs to Defeat COVID-19

NEW HAVEN, CT — (April 7, 2020) Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today released the following statement after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report detailing the challenges hospitals and healthcare workers are facing while treating coronavirus (COVID-19) patients, as well as what they need from the federal government.

"The President recently said we are fighting a war to defeat the coronavirus. I agree. But, given the details of HHS's OIG report, we are losing that war. COVID-19 is the biggest health and economic crisis the country has ever faced. Nurses and doctors are in intensive care units trying to save our humanity against this awful pandemic. Our healthcare workers are heroes, and we need to give them every resource possible to protect them and those who have fallen ill. Our federal government is failing them, even as it becomes clearer each day that officials at the White House predicted how dangerous this outbreak could be."

"We need a centralized, national response to get supplies to hospitals and healthcare workers across the country, which are currently strained to the breaking point.The list of supplies they need is all too familiar: testing supplies and tests with rapid results, personal protective equipment like masks and gowns, ventilators, beds, staff and staff support, clear and consistent guidance from authorities at all levels of government, and more. Congress has appropriated funds for these critical needs—and we stand ready to provide whatever those on the frontlines need. What this moment requires is a leader that will take decisive action do what it takes to win this war, including fully utilizing the Defense Production Act to rapidly produce medical equipment. I urge the President to step up and meet the moment."

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