DENVER — Michele Lujan needed a wheelchair for her 52-year-old husband who had been hospitalized with Covid-19. But she had lost her job, and money was tight. Insurance wouldn’t cover the cost, and she didn’t see the use in buying something to meet a temporary need. So she turned to a loan closet not far from her home in the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch., crutches hung from the walls, knee scooters lined the floor, and shower seats and toilet risers overflowed from the shelves.
Besides insurance delays, hospitals across the U.S. have reported not having enough walkers, crutches, canes, and wheelchairs. Supplies are limited because of shortages of raw materials such as aluminum, said“The availability, not just the cost, has an impact on the durable medical equipment industry,” Baveja said.
Equipment technician Jan Kupidluvsky uses a pressurized steamer to sanitize a wheelchair at the Foundation for Rehabilitation Equipment and Endowment in Salem, Va.Last September and again in January, southwestern Virginia hospitals delayed discharging patients because of shortages of walkers and bedside commodes, and they experienced backlogs of patients in the emergency room because of a shortage of hospital beds, said Robin Ramsey, executive director of FREE, a nonprofit organization.
A group of local physical therapists volunteered at the Foundation for Rehabilitation Equipment and Endowment in Virginia Beach on World PT Day.AT FREE, more than 100 volunteers and 12 staffers last year received 10,000 pieces of donated equipment, and refurbished 6,500 to put back into use, Ramsey said.
With my Stage 3 Lupus & my Mama who is on dialysis…we are on hold for necessary equipment.
The crimes committed by the Communist Party of China in Shanghai are countless, illegal detention, raising food prices and crazy profits! Restrict people's freedom of speech and arbitrarily arrest innocent people. People are in panic. Please forward my comments. Thank you all
Because if there's one thing we hold above all else, it's our senior citizens. We WILL keep them all alive, even if that means killing every single one