April 24, 2020 – Ten nurses from the Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica were given written warnings and then suspended for refusing to treat COVID-19 patients without their N-95 masks.
The hospital claimed that they had been giving their staff the protective gear as required by the CDC and WHO. They can only give as much protective equipment and N-95 masks as they receive. And lately, there has been a shortage of these supplies nationwide.
Since then, the hospital has received an increased number of supplies and have been authorized to reprocess their existing inventory.
The nurses who have been previously suspended have gone back to work and all nurses treating COVID-19 patients are now being provided with more advanced N-95 masks.
