Councilman helps Vegas hospitals, shelters get much-needed gloves

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Monday, March 30, 2020 | 2 a.m.

Like all government officials these days, Las Vegas councilman Brian Knudsen spends most of his time dealing with the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak, coordinating with local businesses about loans and unemployment benefits and other long-term measures to help mitigate the damage.

On Friday, Knudsen took more immediate action by acquiring more than 200,000 pairs of latex gloves and distributing them to local hospitals and shelters.

Knudsen’s office purchased the gloves from Shetakis Foodservice at a discount, then spent Friday morning hitting more than 10 locations including Valley Hospital and UMC of Southern Nevada, each of which received 50,000 pairs.

The rest of the gloves were distributed to the Las Vegas Homeless Courtyard, SafeNest, Helping Hands, and other homeless and assisted-living providers.

There is a scarcity of gloves and other personal protective equipment at the moment, which puts essential workers at risk of contracting or spreading the coronavirus.

“There is a tremendous need for all kinds of protective equipment,” Knudsen said. “Gloves, gowns, masks in particular. We did our part with the gloves. I wish there was more we could do, and we’re going to keep looking for more we can do. Gloves were one opportunity for us to jump in and help out. It’s still a desperate need in the community right now.”

Knudsen said he was spurred by the Nevada Homeless Alliance, which disseminated an email last week that included “wish list” items for providers across Las Vegas. The list included medical-grade latex gloves, and a staffer in Knudsen’s office suggested inquiring about buying surplus equipment from Shetakis.

The plan came together quickly, and on Friday Knudsen and his staff were driving a trailer around the Valley, dropping off cases of much-needed gloves.

In addition to hospitals and medical facilities, Knudsen also wanted to make sure a large portion of the gloves went to area homeless and domestic violence shelters.

Safe Nest is a nonprofit organization that provides shelter for women and children who are seeking to escape domestic violence. Its main location in Las Vegas has 71 beds, so keeping the space clean is a main priority.

Safe Nest CEO Liz Ortenberger said none of the shelter’s clients or employees have gotten sick yet, and hopes the gloves can help keep it that way.

“It helps very much,” Ortenberger said. “At the shelter we have four-times-a-day cleaning, so as folks are disinfecting and spraying the cleaning solvent they need those gloves on. At the shelter we’re doing food service and the gloves area critical part of that and they have been hard to come by, so we really thank councilman Knudsen for thinking of us and getting us those much-needed gloves.”

Knudsen said he will continue looking for ways to assist the community in the coming weeks and months.

“This is a very complex economic and health crisis within our community,” he said. “I have a specific role to play as an elected official, but I think everybody is going to be needed to find a way to help their neighbor and help the community in general.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.