CHENANGO – Health care workers are facing a shortage of personal protective equipment in the midst of coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the N-95 mask is currently the most effective form of personal protection for healthcare workers.

However, according to Dr. Scott Cohen of Bassett Healthcare, both Bassett and UHS are facing major shortages.

“It's harder for us to get personal protective equipment for our health care workers because we are smaller organizations. Bassett and UHS in the grand scheme of things are fairly small,” said Cohen.

On March 24, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the distribution of medical supplies and equipment among New York State hospitals from the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

118,916 N-95 masks, 301,595 surgical masks, 123,735 gloves, 50,793 gowns and 27,485 face shields were distributed between upstate New York hospitals.