As hospitals in New York, California and a few other states reinstate mask mandates amid a COVID-19 uptick, hospital supply leaders told Becker's mask costs aren't rising.
Tom Harvieux, vice president and chief supply chain officer of St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare, said he hasn't seen the price of masks rise. Kaiser Permanente's Steven Chyung, senior vice president and chief supply chain and procurement executive, said the same.
"We've seen a slight uptick in mask demand over the past few weeks due to increased COVID-19 cases and various air quality events in the areas we serve, but there are no concerns with supply availability at this time," Mr. Chyung said. The Oakland, Calif.-based system "isn't experiencing pricing impacts because we have firm contracts with suppliers who have ample supply."
A spokesperson for Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Health Care told Becker's that, similar to Kaiser, the system has contractual agreements that lock in prices of personal protective equipment, including masks.