The Hospital PPE Stockpile is separate from the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). Guidelines for accessing personal protective equipment (PPE) from the Strategic National Stockpile are incident-specific with information available through the Wisconsin Division of Public Health.
Before requesting PPE from the Hospital PPE Stockpile, the hospital must be in compliance with its Memorandum of Understanding with its Regional Hospital Preparedness Board through which the hospital has agreed to maintain a certain par level of PPE.
Before requesting PPE from the Hospital PPE Stockpile, the requesting hospital must have exhausted other methods available for accessing necessary PPE: vendor agreements, regional stockpile, etc. The requesting hospital must also first notify the local health department that it is requesting PPE from the Hospital Stockpile. It is important that the local health department know that there is some occurrence at the hospital that necessitates the need for additional PPE. This is not a call for "permission." It is a notification call only.
The hospital places an order to the warehouse by FAX. The hospital may place further requests for additional PPE, based on need. There is no need to contact the local health department for subsequent orders. The warehouse will ship the PPE to the hospital by commercial carrier, using the delivery method that ensures delivery to the hospital within 24 hours. The hospital may also arrange for its own pick-up of the PPE from the warehouse.
Based on consensus among all hospitals so as to keep the stockpile replenished, it was agreed that the hospital will be billed for both the replacement and shipping costs of the PPE requested. The state Hospital Preparedness Program also has an agreement with a vendor by which all PPE in the stockpile is rotated so there is only a one-time purchase necessary. As a courtesy, federally qualified community health centers and free clinics will not be billed for any personal protective equipment ordered from the Hospital PPE Stockpile for emergency use purposes.
Recently, the Hospital PPE Stockpile was opened to other healthcare facilities, following the same procedures and reimbursement policies as outlined above. However, the following criteria must be met by a healthcare facility in order to access personal protective equipment from the Hospital PPE Stockpile:
a. The facility must have a documented Respiratory Protection Program for the proper use of PPE, which includes conservation of PPE.
b. The facility must have had an inventory of PPE and not use the Hospital PPE Stockpile as the source of PPE.
c. The facility must have a person(s) that can provide fit-testing for its staff.
The state Hospital Preparedness program has also provided a basic package of PPE to all EMS Ambulance transport services and all certified First Responder non-transport services.