There’s some confusion today regarding a story that broke yesterday over ventilators that HHS said they sent to Florida as the state battles the Delta variant:
HHS: The federal government has sent 200 ventilators and 100 high-flow nasal kits and related supplies to Florida this week to help the state respond to the surge in Covid hospitalizations
— Jesse Rodriguez (@JesseRodriguez) August 10, 2021
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he was not aware of the request:
The Biden administration sent hundreds of ventilators to Florida in recent days as the state responds to a dramatic new increase in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, but Gov. Ron says he's unaware of the shipment. https://t.co/3fj7LGJ8jo
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) August 11, 2021
But he said he’d look into it:
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), asked why Florida has requested 300 ventilators from the federal government:
"I have not heard about that … I would honestly doubt that that's true, but I'll look."pic.twitter.com/J38sGiDRof
— The Recount (@therecount) August 11, 2021
Keep in mind, Tampa Bay Times reporter Kirby Wilson says he hasn’t heard about *any* hospitals even needing ventilators at this time:
FWIW: none of the hospital folks I've talked to have said they are short on supplies.
Justin Senior, CEO of Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, whose members often treat the sickest/neediest patients, told me he's heard nothing about a ventilator shortage. https://t.co/Umz7jVYUUf
— Kirby Wilson (@KirbyWTweets) August 10, 2021
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And this brings us to a few moments ago when White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki thought she’d use the story to dunk on DeSantis, telling journos that “I would note that as a policy we don’t send ventilators to states without their interest in receiving the ventilators”:
"I would note that as a policy we don't send ventilators to states without their interest in receiving the ventilators," @PressSec says of @GovRonDeSantis dispute that Florida actually made the request.
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) August 11, 2021
And she added, “I think the most important question here is, ‘why would you oppose receiving ventilators?'”:
She adds, "I think the most important question here is, why would you oppose receiving ventilators?"
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) August 11, 2021
That’s when DeSantis spox Christina Pushaw fired back, asking “Why is the Biden Amin trying to make this into a huge political issue?”
She also clarified that the request came from the Florida Department of Health and it was part of a “standard / routine process, the Governor doesn’t need to be looped in on it”:
Why is the Biden Admin trying to make this into a huge political issue? Nobody from @GovRonDeSantis office asked for ventilators. @HealthyFla did, and there’s a standard / routine process, the Governor doesn’t need to be looped in on it. pic.twitter.com/PYz75RPwCp
— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) August 11, 2021
As for the ventilators, Wilson added this morning that the state has enough ventilators right now but it’s is restocking its own emergency supply to “maintain the state’s supply cushion”:
These two things can be true at the same time:
-The state requested hundreds more ventilators.
-FL hospitals are not short on ventilators.FL has more emergency supplies than it needs in storage. I'm hearing supplies are being requested to maintain the state's supply cushion. https://t.co/bKoPcI67CQ
— Kirby Wilson (@KirbyWTweets) August 11, 2021
And:
To be perfectly clear, what is happening in Florida hospitals right now is not good. But people who need these machines are getting them, and the state is requesting more machines to back fill its existing supply. Once you've run out, it's too late to ask for more.
— Kirby Wilson (@KirbyWTweets) August 11, 2021
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