Axne Continues To Look For PPE For District

ATLANTIC – Representative Cindy Axne continues to look for personal protective gear (PPE) and medical supplies for health workers in her district due to the coronavirus outbreak. Axne held a conference call with officials at Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) on Monday, and spoke to the News Telegraph afterward, saying one important point she wanted to stress was that she was continuing to look for personal protective gear.

“We’re working so hard at a federal level to get PPE and medical supplies here,” Axne said. “It seems very confusing to people- (they are) wondering why we don’t have as any many tests as we can get, why we don’t have many PPE as most is going to those hot spots in the country, but I know I am actively working with vendors individually to get product here to our state. And I know that other folks are as well from the governor on down (are doing the same thing).”

Axne said it’s important to make sure the U.S. has a better plan in place following the outbreak to make sure states are better prepared for a situation like this in the future.

“There’s just not an easy solution to any of this, and it just goes to show why it’s so important as we move through this and come out on a better side down the road, that we put the right pieces in place so that we have a much better structure should something like this ever happen again,” Axne said.

She said obviously it’s important to fight the virus, but there are other things to consider, like how to get funding to places like SWIPCO, if needed, so they can continue to operate in the future.

“When we get our millions of dollars here in the state, it’s dedicated to very specific programs related to the coronavirus, health care a huge one, but it doesn’t into supporting regional planning commissions,” she said. “We’ve got to take care of the (virus) first and foremost. (Then we have to think) how do we create things that work down the road in a much more streamlined fashion.”