Nurse who warned of hospital supplies shortage dies of coronavirus weeks before retirement
'I just feel like things may have gone differently had we had the proper protective equipment that wee needed to care for our patient that night,'
A nurse who raised alarms over a shortage of protective equipment in her hospital died of coronavirus weeks before her retirement.
Celia Yap Banango, a registered nurse who worked at Research Medical Center in Kansas City for more than 40 years, died on Tuesday from Covid-19, according to the National Nurses United union. She had been scheduled to retire this week.
Banango had reportedly been one of many hospital workers in the Kansas City area who had been warning about a insufficient supplies of personal protective equiptment, such as gloves, masks and gowns, amid the ongoing public health crisis which has infected more than 990,000 across the country and killed at least 55,000.
Charlene Carter, a nurse who worked alongside Banango at the medical center for seven years, said she and Banango treated a Covid-19 patient in late March, but they were not wearing N95 masks or any of the equipment often used when battling coronavirus.
‘It’s horrible to find out that she didn’t make it,’ Carter told KCUR.
‘I just feel like things may have gone differently had we had the proper protective equipment that wee needed to care for our patient that night,’
The hospital has denied having a lack of supplies in the wake of Banango’s death, although a spokesperson did say the center was conserving the critical medical gear.
Christine Mamele, a spokesperson for HCA Midwest Health, which operates the Research Center and other hospitals, wrote: ‘We currently have adequate supplies of PPE and are doing everything in our power to ensure we continue to have enough to protect our colleagues as they provide care to patients.’
Despite the hospital’s claims, nurse and union representative Pascaline Muhindura, said there has been no improvement in the supplies at Research Medical Center.
‘We have not seen any difference in the way they were being rationed – N95s, respirators, surgical masks or gowns,’ Muhindura said.