Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2020

HI-EMA BEGINS SHIPPING FREE PPE TO SMALL BUSINESSES AND
OTHER QUALIFIED RECIPIENTS STATEWIDE

HONOLULU – Hawai’i Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) is shipping the initial round of free personal protective equipment (PPE) under its new distribution program, funded by $61,000,000 in CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Funds. Many of these initial shipments are to small businesses and independent medical providers such as doctors and dentists.

“We received over 1,800 online orders since we launched at the beginning of the month and we are now ready to start shipping this free PPE on a rolling basis,” said HI-EMA Administrator, Luke Meyers. “We thank our industry partners and trade groups for helping us to get the initial word out. We want the public to know we have available inventory and we urge qualified recipients to put in their orders as soon as possible.”

Qualified recipients of free PPE can apply at: https://hawaii-medical-alliance.myshopify.com/. Orders will be accepted until November 15, 2020.

HI-EMA anticipates shipping through the end of the year, supplies permitting, and needs to receive all orders by mid-November in order to ensure timely delivery. (A detailed list of qualified recipients is below.)

HI-EMA has spent over $50,000,000 of its CARES allocation for PPE distribution. The Hawai’i State Procurement Office has been an active partner in sourcing PPE as a part of the HI-EMA logistics team. Close to 50% of all purchases (including funding from CARES and Department of Health) were from local suppliers and manufacturers.

Here are a few stories to highlight the impact of the State’s most recent PPE purchases:

Kamanu Composites, whose core business prior to COVID-19 was canoes and other related products, shifted their production to face shields. With the State’s order of roughly 820,000 face shields, Kamanu Composites intends to hire 25-40 new employees during the last two months of production, in addition to their current staff, to meet production requirements.

To date, HI-EMA has purchased over 453,000 cloth masks from local sources, including T&L Muumuu Factory, Tropical Js, Tori Richards, Cintas, and Hawaii Correctional Industries.

Under Act 9, Session Laws of Hawai’i 2020, the following entities are qualified recipients of free PPE:

1. Independent Medical Providers – Small Hospitals, Community Health Centers, Clinics, Doctors, Dentists, Labs, Pharmacies, Therapists, Blood and Plasma Banks and Dialysis Centers;

2. Child Care Providers – Department of Human Services licensed or registered Child Care Providers (e.g., Family Child Care Homes, Group Child Care Centers, Group Child Care Homes, Infant & Toddler Child Care Centers, and Before and After School Care Programs);

3. Eldercare Facilities – Department of Health licensed or registered facilities that provide care for the elderly (e.g., Adult Residential Care Home, Assisted Living Facility, Community Care Foster Home, Adult Day Care Centers);

4. Small Businesses – a for-profit corporation, limited liability company, partnership, limited partnership, sole proprietorship or other legal entity domiciled and authorized to do business in Hawai’i with an average of less than 100 full-time or part-time employees prior to March 1, 2020;

5. Non-Profit Organizations – a non-profit corporation domiciled and authorized to do business in Hawai’i;

6. Hospitals – Hawai’i’s major hospitals (part of the Hawaii Healthcare Emergency Management Coalition); and

7. Schools – Department of Education, Public Charter Schools, and the University of Hawai’i System

Qualified recipients in groups 1-5 should order via the https://hawaii-medical-alliance.myshopify.com/
platform, groups 6 and 7 should continue using their current PPE ordering system to HI-EMA.

For any questions regarding the PPE distribution process, please email [email protected].

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Contact:
Arlina Agbayani
Public Information Officer
[email protected]
808-620-5423

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