With the nation’s entire healthcare system reorganizing to meet the coronavirus and expected surge in high-need patients, state officials are trying to stay a step ahead of demand. This means stockpiling and ordering personal protective equipment, tests and ventilators, but also passing forward-thinking legislation.

Governor Tom Wolf has created a Hospital Emergency Loan Program to support healthcare centers suffering financial loss. The $450 million program allows for low-interest loans for facilities and networks that are eliminating elective surgeries, preventive medicine and other non-urgent care while shifting resources to combat the virus.

“This means that many hospitals have had a significant decline in income. We cannot allow any of our hospitals to become bankrupt,” Wolf said in his daily video briefing Friday. “When the pandemic ends we’re going to need our hospitals to care for our regular needs, like heart attacks and broken bones. The Hospital Emergency Loan Program will allow us to fully mobilize our health system right now so we can provide better care for every single Pennsylvanian who becomes sick with the 2019 novel coronavirus. It will allow us to continue to care for all hospital patients and we can keep our front-line medical staff safer and healthier.”

Meanwhile, state Health Secretary Rachel Levine said the search continues for additional resources from the federal government and other sources across the country. “We continue to supply our hospitals, long-term care living facilities, emergency management services and county emergency and health agencies with personal protective equipment. As of [Friday] we have supplied 1.8 million masks, 136,000 hospital gowns, 912,000 procedure or hospital masks, 730,000 pairs of gloves, 990 goggles and 147,000 face shields.

“We knw that more will be needed from our healthcare system, which has done so much already, and we thank them.”

The recent high increase in deaths, Levine said, is due to people succumbing after days or weeks of fighting the virus.

As of Monday, the statewide totals are: 24,199 total confirmed infected; and 524 deaths.

Lehigh County has 1,747 infected and 19 deaths, and Northampton County has 1,130 infected and 23 deaths. The city of Bethlehem has 222 infected, 29 hospitalized and one death.

As always, Wolf and Levine remind the public to stay safe and stay home, and if it’s necessary to go out, wear a mask.