Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) compounded the hardships for medical practices and hindered their ability to provide care for Californians. To alleviate the strain on practices and improve patient access to care, the California Medical Association (CMA) mobilized with its local county medical societies, the state of California to bring more than 120 million pieces of PPE—including medical-grade masks, gloves and gowns—to healthcare organizations free of charge, so that they can safely provide care for California residents.
As CMA shifts it’s focus to vaccination efforts the online PPE Portal is now closed. Thank you for your participation in the program as you continue to keep California healthy.
Last Summer, the California Medical Association (CMA) developed an entirely new statewide distribution system for essential medical equipment, which included PPE donations from the Office of Emergency Services (OES).
California physicians and medical groups were invited to participate in drive-thru events and an online ordering portal to receive much needed PPE. All PPE was free and there was only a nominal shipping and handling fee.
CMA distributed over 100 million pieces of PPE to physicians and medical groups from August 1 to December 31, 2020. The donations supported approximately 100,000 California physicians and their staff, which represented a total value of more than $200 million.
Thank you @Cal_OES and @CMAdocs #PPERelief Program, for helping us provide medical-grade PPE – N95 respirators, surgical masks, face shields, isolation gowns, coveralls, goggles, hand sanitizers – to our practices. Learn about the program cmadocs.org/ppe
Hill Physicians
These free PPE kits were a lifeline during a very challenging year.
Rajan Hundal, M.D. Elk Grove cardiologist
Without the donations, we would have had to limit hours or close our practice completely. The PPE helped our patient care team stay healthy and enabled us to continue serving our patients – our community is healthier because of this program.
Rajan Hundal, MD
Indian Health Services cannot be forgotten during the #COVID19 pandemic. Thank you to @CMAdocs for delivering much-needed PPE to the Indian Health Council in North County, San Diego. #NativeHealth
Alec Calac
I am so grateful for the @CMAdocs efforst to support its physicians during this most crucial time. It is amazing how much a difference this has made in our practice during the pandemic. #PPE is crucial to keep us & our patients safe! Thank you!
David Epstein, MD, MS, FAAP MVP Pediatric
The links provide news stories about the PPE events CMA held in the summer and fall of 2020.
Medical practices receive 2 months’ worth of PPE at Salinas event
Smaller medical practices get free masks, gloves and gowns at Honda Center event
Free personal protective equipment donated to LA doctors who are struggling with shortage