Health care systems across central Wisconsin need help dealing with shortages of personal protective equipment and loose-fitting surgical masks as they combat a global pandemic.

Marshfield Clinic Health System and Aspirus facilities are accepting handmade surgical masks to help during the COVID-19 outbreak, the official name for the new coronavirus. Ascension Wisconsin is not accepting handmade masks.

All three healthcare systems are accepting donations of much-needed N95 masks, those tight-fitting masks that filter out 95% of small and large airborne particles, and other medical supplies.

Handmade masks can't replace the N95 masks or disposable surgical masksbecause their material can varyand are not rated for medical use by the FDA, but they will play a role as hospitals run out of masks and need ways to control the spread of the virus from patients.

The main benefactors of these masks will be patients with the coronavirus to help control the disease's spread when they're outside of quarantine or in the vicinity of uninfected people.For some health care workers across the country, using these handmade masks will be an absolute last resort and should be paired with some sort of face shield, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here's how to donate and what standards to follow for handmade masks.

The do-it-yourself nature of handmade masks leaves a lot of potential variability in materials, sewing and quality and so JOANN fabrics created a program last Fridayto give away free fabric, elastic and other materialsso people can make facemasks.

Marshfield Clinic is also providing guidance on how to make masks through instructions created by the Turban Project, aministry created by the women of the 4th Degree Knights of Columbus Assembly #0830 in Ohio.

Andrew Krauss, an Aspirus spokesman, said people can donate handmade masks at the loading dock of any Aspirus hospital. He said to label such donations as "Donation: handmade masks."

Krauss said Aspirus facilities have enough supplies for now but the situation is fluid, and the health system continues to seek donations and find avenues to acquire more supplies.

"We have a great supply chain at Aspirus and continue to find new avenues for supplies such as (personal protective equipment). However, we are aware that this is a marathon and we continue to prepare for the long-haul," Krauss said in an email. "Were in a good spot for now, but this is a very fluid situation and we are monitoring our supplies very closely."

Marshfield Clinic over the weekend sent out a call for volunteers to donate sewn masks.

Teri Wilczek, the chief philanthropy officer for the clinic, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the clinic should be getting thousands of masks through its various drop-off spots from teachers, church groups, clubs and families.

The handmade masks at the clinic will be used by patients and family members at the clinic's facilities because they're not surgical masks. The clinic plans to wash and use them a second time.

"Sewn masks will help alleviate the shortage and will be distributed to patients to help provide a protective barrier, so that medical-grade N95 masks may be conserved for our health care providers," Marshfield Clinic wrote on its Facebook page.

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Volunteers can reach Melissa Darr, who works in volunteer services at the Marshfield Medical Center, at darr.melissa@marshfieldclinic.org or at 715-387-7198. The clinic is updating its request for donations daily on its Facebook page.

Donation locationsfor Marshfield Clinic are:

Ascension will not accept handmade masksbut is taking donations of other medical supplies:

Contact Ascension Wisconsins Foundation partners at AscensionWIFoundations@ascension.org to make a donation. The foundation will arrange to pick up and deliver the donation to an Ascension facility. Ascension asks people to not drop off donations at a hospital.

"At this time, Ascension Wisconsin cannot accept donations that are handmade (ex: sewn face masks) and is working with local and state health officials to determine if such items could be an option in the future," according to a statement from Ascension.

Contact reporter Alan Hovorka at 715-345-2252 or ahovorka@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ajhovorka.

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Coronavirus handmade masks: What hospitals are accepting them? - Stevens Point Journal