Correct The Record | The HHS IG Report Doesn’t Reflect the Reality on the Ground
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President Trump is providing vital support to our nation’s healthcare providers.
- President Trump signed legislation providing $100 billion for our nation’s healthcare providers, including hospitals on the frontlines of this outbreak.
- The President took action so his Administration could waive certain laws and regulations in order to give healthcare providers maximum flexibility.
- CMS issued regulatory changes to help increase hospital capacity, expand the healthcare workforce, and cut paperwork so doctors can focus on patients.
- The Administration lifted HIPAA penalties to enable healthcare providers to expand telehealth access for patients.
- President Trump directed his Administration to build emergency medical sites in hot spots across the country, including a hospital at the Javits Center.
- The President deployed the USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy to help support hospital capacity in hard hit states.
Millions of masks, face shields, gowns, gloves and other personal protective equipment have been distributed across the country.
- PRESIDENT TRUMP DURING YESTERDAY’S BRIEFING: “FEMA and HHS have directly distributed 11.7 million N95 respirators…26.5 million surgical masks, 5.3 million face shields, 4.4 million surgical gowns, and 22.6 million gloves. 22.6 million gloves.”
We had conducted 1.79 million tests as of Monday, far more than any other country.
- ADMIRAL GIROIR: “As the President said, 1.79 million tests have been done. And this does not count the hundreds of thousands of tests that are done within hospitals that are now currently not reporting. So I'm sure we're well over 2 million. That inspector general report was done here -- 23rd and 24th -- during our ramp-up period, quite a long time ago.”
Despite what the report says from weeks ago, testing has significantly expanded, backlogs are getting taken care of, and we have deployed rapid result tests across the country.
- Testing is expanding across the country and backlogs are being taken care of.
- ADMIRAL GIROIR: “There was clearly -- and it's hard to interpret the report because it mixes up all kinds of things -- but clearly, there was complaints by some hospitals of a backlog. Probably had sent out tests. And that is true. There were several days of backlog at some of the major labs that have been taken care of. We know now that the ACLA labs now have a 24- to 48-hour turnaround. “
- Hospitals have access to rapid testing that can deliver results in minutes.
- ADMIRAL GIROIR: “They're doing well over 100,000 tests a day. We now have the Abbott machine; that's point of care. That's 18,000 of those instruments throughout the country. The Cepheid machine is now all across the country with a 45-minute turnaround on.”
- We are providing 24 hour support to hospitals who may have testing issues.
- ADMIRAL GIROIR: “We have worked directly with many of the hospitals that have their own laboratory-derived tests. Some of those really, quite frankly, didn't understand the regulatory freedom they have to use other different kinds of instruments or different kinds of reagents…Like they do now. And I'm on the phone with them all the time to make sure that everything is clear. We have a 24-hour call number. But that's what it was there for.”
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