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Given the current high demand for PPE and other patient care supplies, many of our usual supplies are very limited or unavailable. With guidance from Infection Prevention and clinical leaders, UW Medicine Supply Chain has prioritized exploring all reasonable supply substitutions for the system. This has included seeking out alternate or substitute equivalent products for PPE and other patient care items.

Prior to purchase and implementation, all substitute products are compared to each of our hospitals’ product(s) and carefully evaluated for equivalency and appropriateness by the UW Medicine Incident Command Allocation team, which includes clinicians with expertise in PPE. All potential substitute items that have not been used within our system are carefully reviewed by the relevant clinical experts from Infection Prevention, Respiratory Therapy, and/or Nursing. This process has enabled us to make efficient decisions on substitute products and keep critical supplies in stock throughout our care areas during this unprecedented time.

Staff can expect to see variations in PPE items and patient care items over the next few months, and sometimes these items may be stocked in your area without formal notification. If you have concerns about the substitute products your department has received, please raise this with your department or nurse manager for further review.