Cuyahoga County plans to inject another $5 million into its coronavirus response as it competes with other local government bidders for personal protective equipment.
County council has scheduled a vote on the spending proposal Tuesday afternoon in a livestreamed remote meeting.
The county has already spent $1.75 million, much of it to buy protective equipment including gloves, face shields and N95 respirator masks, .
鈥淲e need a lot more personal protective equipment, but there鈥檚 huge amounts of needs,鈥� County Executive Armond Budish told ideastream. 鈥淓very day something else comes up. So we鈥檒l spend it as we need it to help the people in this community.鈥�
Budish declared a state of emergency in early March, enabling his administration to make large purchases more quickly.
But the county has had to compete on the market with other governments for protective gear, he said, blaming .
鈥淪adly, it is a competition,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have orders that we鈥檝e made that have been taken from us because someone else comes in, I believe, and outbids us.鈥�
The administration has considered banding together with other local governments on some purchases, Budish said. The county also .
The county鈥檚 emergency operations center determines how to distribute the gear, fielding requests from the sheriff鈥檚 department, St. Vincent Charity Medical Center and others, Budish said.
The scramble for gear has forced public agencies to find new solutions. to make 2,000 face shields for police, fire and EMS. And Gov. Mike DeWine has tried to enlist Ohio manufacturers to produce equipment, too.
Protective gear hasn鈥檛 been Cuyahoga County鈥檚 only emergency purchase. The county hired ASG Healthcare and Educare Medical Staffing to screen people at county buildings like the Justice Center, Juvenile Court and main administrative headquarters.
The county has also created a $3 million program to support small businesses closed during the pandemic, drawing on its own funds and donations.
Like many local governments, the county is bracing for a revenue crunch as coronavirus shutdowns leave a dent in sales tax collections. The county is requiring non-union employees to take a 10-day furlough and is preparing for a possible 15 percent cut to the budget.
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