Registered nurses at the Cincinnati VA will hold a noon rally July 9 to protest the lack of personal protective equipment at the facility which puts veterans, patients, and the public at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) today.

“N95s and other PPE continue to be locked up,” said Alles Smith, RN. “Having PPE locked up is an unacceptable practice that nurses aren’t willing to accept! Nurses and health care workers must have access to PPE to safely take care of our veterans.”

Who:  RN members of NNOC/NNU and Veterans
What: Noon Rally to speak out against lack of PPE and other protections for frontline health care workers
Where: 3200 Vine Street, Cincinnati, Ohio  45220 (Main Entrance on Vine Street, between Eden and Shield Streets)
When: Thursday, July 9 at 12pm ET

Registered nurses say the lack of PPE has already led to the infection of at least four nurses at the Cincinnati VA and and the exposure of many more. Across the country, more than a thousand health care workers have died from COVID-19, including 149 nurses.

The nurses are calling for the use of the Defense Production Act to ensure there is sufficient PPE manufactured in the United States to meet the current need. In addition, they are advocating for the establishment of a Medical Supplies Response Coordinator who would coordinate all efforts of the federal government related to the supply and distribution of critical medical supplies and equipment