A craft brewery is among the businesses that raised money to help buy personal protective equipment for Falls Church, VA.-based Inova Health System, according to Kaiser Health News.
Zach Mote, a brewer who owns Water End Brewery in a Washington, D.C., suburb worked with Beltway Brewing to make a new ale, called PPE beer. The sales raised more than $18,000 for Inova to buy masks, gloves and other protective gear.
The breweries are selling six packs of the PPE beer, donating $6 of the $18 cost. The first batch of the beer sold out in April. When a second batch of the beer sells out, the breweries said Inova should receive $27,000 total from the fundraising effort.
In addition to the money from the breweries, Inova asked for donations from the community to buy personal protective gear. As of early June, Inova has raised $4.3 million from more than 3,300 donors, according to the report.
Inova's Chief Philanthropy Officer Sage Bolte, PhD, said the hospital is grateful for all the community donations.
"The donations have truly made a difference in our supply of PPE to help us go on," Dr. Bolte told Kaiser Health News.
Inova is one of several systems raising money to help offset the expenses incurred while preparing for the COVID-19 pandemic. Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health and Los Angeles-based UCLA Health are also asking for donations for PPE.
Some experts have raised concerns about fundraising for PPE, according to the report.
Gerard Anderson, PhD, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Hospital Finance and Management in Baltimore, said hospitals typically don't solicit donations for everyday equipment.
"It's a cost of doing business," Mr. Anderson told Kaiser Health News.