London’s hospitals are refusing to release details on their stock of personal protective equipment including masks, as the union representing its nurses says the hospitals’ supply is running perilously low.

In a joint statement, the presidents of St. Joseph’s Health Care London and London Health Sciences Centre say their supply chain for personal protective equipment is “complex and rapidly changing” and providing a single-day snapshot of available masks isn’t an accurate measure of the situation.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

“While a limited number of days-on-hand supply may seem concerning, it does not mean the hospitals will actually run out of stock at that time, but rather indicates an area of concern for our procurement partners,” the hospitals said in a statement Friday afternoon.

“There are supply pipelines and fail-safes in place to ensure that all Ontario hospitals are able to access PPE (personal protective equipment).”

Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

As the coronavirus pandemic puts pressure on medical supply chains around the world, the union representing nurses at St. Joseph’s and LHSC says the hospitals have a five-day supply of surgical masks and about a week’s supply of N95 masks, more advanced masks that have the ability to filter air in addition to blocking droplets.

Personal protective equipment is procured and allocated by Healthcare Materials Management Services, a joint venture between both hospitals.

Both St. Joseph’s and LHSC are asking staff to conserve masks. St. Joseph’s is giving many workers two per shift. The supply is locked up and distributed daily. Frontline staff at both hospitals are required to wear a mask at all times.

“Contrary to what has been publicly stated by some, we are not asking people to go without and we will not have staff or physicians working without proper PPE,” the hospitals said.

St. Joseph’s and LHSC are looking at all options to conserve N95 masks, including cleaning and reusing them.

“Our infectious disease experts are reviewing and consulting widely on the science and evidence. This work is ongoing. Ontario Health is also looking at reprocessing N95s and may be issuing a directive soon,” LHSC and St. Joseph’s said in a statement.

The statement by St. Joseph’s and LHSC comes as Canada’s supply of 3M N95 masks from the United States comes under threat by the White House. U.S. President Donald Trump directed the company to no longer export their masks, a demand the company is pushing back against.

Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Friday the province has ordered millions of N95 masks but is also attempting to ramp up domestic production of the critical devices.

“We have to be conservative on supply, but we do have enough supply to keep us going,” he said.

“We still have supplies coming in on a daily basis but I’m going to feel a lot more comfortable when we can produce them right here in Ontario.”

The demand for masks by frontline health care workers is showing up regularly on the front porch of Londoner Kimberley Vander Schelde.

“I’ve had six doctors in the last 24 hours come to my porch and pick up masks,” she said.

“These are doctors within the hospital and the community, mostly from the hospitals. They’re doing what they can to keep themselves and their families safe. And these are doctors who are also trying to get masks for their nursing co-workers and others.”

Vander Schelde began collecting masks, gloves, sanitizing gear and other equipment last week, after hearing that hospital and other health-care workers in London didn’t feel they were getting enough protective gear.

In the past few days, she has handed out more than 350 N95 masks, more than 450 surgical masks, more than 900 pairs of gloves and two industrial sized tubs of sanitizing wipes, Vander Schelde said.

On Thursday alone, she provided 200 masks to a doctor who was going to distribute them to clinics and outside hospital settings, Vander Schelde said.

Donations are still coming in, but Vander Schelde says she’s trying to be careful about who receives the supplies.

Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

“I want to make sure these are going into the hands of people who are going to use them, because I only have so many,” she said.

St. Joseph’s and LHSC have a process for frontline staff bringing in their own masks or personal protective equipment.

“If a care provider has their own supply of PPE, they are to contact HMMS (Healthcare Materials Management Services), which has a process to collect, assess and distribute donations of supplies,” the hospitals said in a statement.

The demand for masks has also hit a network of about 800 area volunteers sewing and distributing cloth masks, scrub cloths and head bands

Cloth masks are considered “a last resort, a back-up, when things run out, but a better than nothing option,” said Kathleen Klement, regional co-ordinator for the London-Middlesex branch of Canada Sews.

“That time has unfortunately come. I wish we didn’t need them all. We were hoping to have these and never need to use them. I am surprised at how quickly it happened but I don’t think I am surprised that it did happen.”

The local network has received requests for cloth masks from LHSC staff, personal support workers, caregivers, the London InterCommunity Health Centre, Strathroy hospital and others, Klement said.

Nurses say they use the cloth masks over surgical masks they must now wear all day, Klement said.

The extra mask prevents some contamination, and nurses can get a fresh cloth mask after every break, she said.

Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

“It’s a matter of risk reduction at this point.”

The network is also making cloth headbands that help keep surgical masks in place without the mask elastic band wearing on skin, and scrub caps.

All the items are sanitized and quarantined for three days before delivery, Klement said.

So far, the network has orders for 1,700 items over all, she said.

More information Canada Sews: London-Middlesex Facebook page or www.canadasews.ca Vander Shelde’s efforts can be found on the Supporting Front Line Workers Facebook page