Facing shortages of protective equipment, two New England hospital systems tried online swap meets, according to an article on the Modern Healthcare website.
For instance, the University of Vermont Health system's Burlington hospital was short on face shields. But it had surplus hand sanitizer. Meanwhile, a hospital in Lebanon, N. H., hospital needed hand sanitizer. They turned to The Exchange at Resilinc, a new online trading platform.
Online platforms have emerged to match hospitals that need masks, gowns and ventilators with those that have extras.
The hospital association is involved in some projects, including the 100 Million Mask Challenge, which lines up alternative manufacturers to make masks for medical workers.