PPE RELIEF WEEK | LACMA, CMA Distribute

In late July, with temperatures soaring and media buzzing about, LACMA, the California Medical Association (CMA) and local groups came together to deliver much-needed relief to local doctors’ offices, distributing $12 million worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) and supplies to over 2,300 practices over five days.

A week of PPE distribution events kicked off at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena with a long line of cars stretched around the historic site, each of the 495 drivers waiting to pick up boxes of valuable personal protective equipment.

Similar scenes played out throughout the week at the Torrance, Arcadia, Culver City and Woodland Hills events, with a grand total of 2,324 physician practices receiving PPE equipment made available free of charge by the State of California. Funding for the distribution of the equipment was provided by Altais, a new healthcare services company.

“LACMA partnered with CMA, the State of California and Altais to provide the free medical-grade personal protective equipment (PPE) – including N95 and surgical masks, gowns, gloves and face shields – to small and medium-sized medical practices across the county,” said LACMA CEO Gustavo Friederichsen.

Emil Ybanez with Harmony Health MD in Glendale told ABC7 that it’s been extremely difficult to find any masks during the past four months. “Our clinic does drive-through COVID testing. We go through more PPE than a regular

clinic would. I was just surprised how much they could get for us,” Ybanez said.

George Abdelmessih is the director of his daughter’s Glendale practice. He told ABC7, “We are struggling on a day-to-day basis.”

Abdelmessih said when he does find PPE to buy, it’s too expensive.

“They’re going for an exorbitant amount of money right now as well as very limited quantities,” he said.

“This week is something special,” said Friederichsen. “Thanks to CMA’s Mike Steenburgh and Hjalmer Danielson, who brought the trucks filled with supplies, manned the forklifts, co-designed traffic flow and worked side by side with LACMA staff, including Lisa Le, Vitelio Aguilar and Sheila Hoyer, and 70-plus volunteers resulting in a patchwork of successful events from Pasadena to Torrance, Arcadia to Culver City and finally Woodland Hills. Five events, five different locations, thousands of physicians helped during the pandemic.”

“It was incredible to see our leadership, from LACMA president, Dr. Diana Shiba; immediate past president, Dr. Sion Roy; president-elect, Dr. Jeffery Lee; and board members Dr. Jack Chou, Dr. Roxana Yoonessi and Dr. Stephanie Booth—all pitched in to distribute boxes of PPE, greeting participating physicians and thanking staff and volunteers,” he added. “Simultaneously, Orange County and San Diego held their events. In fact, nearly 40 events will take place over three weeks to deliver muchneeded PPE to physicians in practices with less than 50 doctors across the entire state. We had various video and photo crews at each event as we have shared unprecedented events via social media.”

Scenes from around the county as LACMA, CMA and 70-plus volunteers distributed $12 million worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) and supplies to over 2,300 practices over five days.