Ten Million PPEs

Every day during a pandemic is new.  I never know what is happening next.  I never know what my priority will be for the day.  Early on I remembered that, during a crisis, one should have one or two things to focus on every day.  Anything more than that will be overwhelming.  Anything more than that will be impossible to get each of the items their full chance of success.  With that concept in mind, I got up this morning and made my first phone call.  It was a followup to someone who reached out to me last Friday, but for whom I just never had time to talk, nor time to add to my focal points over the weekend. In fact, those focal points got an actionable letter to the Governor with four pages of specific actions that the government needs to take during this pandemic.  While most of my mentors remind me that we should be happy if we can achieve only one or two of these things, I will never shy away from laying them all out on the table.  Why aim for mediocrity, when we can aim for being the best!

That brings me back to what I promoted on Anderson Cooper, in what seems like a lifetime ago.  Nursing homes are the accelerator for COVID19 infections.  We need to put a moat around them, lest they help spread the virus.  We need to protect the residents and the staff.  My message actually hasn't changed since I started reaching out to our government five weeks ago.  It's just gotten more refined.

This morning I spoke to a friend.  A very smart geriatrician who I've mentored and provided advice to.  He understands geriatrics, but he also understands business, specifically from a "supply chain" perspective.  He's literally been a student of supply chain dynamics since all this started.  Why does that matter?  Because he has a way into the supply chain.  Early on, another one of my mentors told me that I'd never get to the Governor unless I had something to bring to him.  Maybe I do now.  Through my friend and colleague, it appears that I have the opportunity to bring 10 million units of PPE to nursing homes throughout the state of California within the span of the next ten days.  While it would have been nice to have done this a week or two ago, there's no time like the present!

The state government continues to function as both a political entity and a bureaucracy.  It certainly isn't functioning as a medical and science driven command center during a pandemic.  That leaves me with one alternative.  Can I help bring 10 million units of PPE to the Governor of California or the mayor of Los Angeles in order to supply nursing homes throughout the state with an adequate supply of PPE to help protect both the residents and staffs of our most vulnerable locations and populations? Will that opportunity get them off their asses to do the right thing is other areas?  Let's see.