LOS ANGELES — Liz Klinger, CEO and co-founder of sexual wellness brand Lioness, has joined forces with Medinas CEO Chloe Alpert to launch Mask-Match, a new initiative designed to reallocate spare medical masks to healthcare workers on the front lines battling the coronavirus.
Following a global shortage of respirator masks, such as the N95 models, healthcare workers have been left with dwindling supplies. Mask-Match acts as a partnering service to connect verified healthcare workers in search of personal protective equipment to peers who have extras available.
Klinger and Alpert are longtime friends; Medinas is a cloud-based asset management and remarketing platform for medical supplies.
When Klinger learned her mother, a lifelong nurse, could potentially be exposed to coronavirus due to an insufficient supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), she was panicked. "I don’t want my mom to die," she said. "Plus, some of her co-workers are single parents or over 65 — the situation is truly frightening out there."
According to Klinger, she became aware that her mother's hospital was one of many across the U.S. forced to resort to PPE rationing by "locking up masks and actively discouraging their use because of the shortage and fears that they would be stolen," and "saving their stock for the anticipated peak [in coronavirus cases]."
Mask-Match was quickly developed in response to shortages faced by hospitals nationwide and to help healthcare workers who are now facing personally dangerous conditions during the unprecedented coronavirus outbreak.
"Some hospitals may also not accept mask [donations] from the public due to liability concerns. This is why Mask-Match is trying to provide masks directly to the healthcare workers on the front lines through peer-to-peer matching," Klinger explained.
While companies like Medinas are helping procure new supplies from overseas, Mask-Match is hoping to offer more immediate relief. “Medinas is moving as fast as we can, but healthcare workers need masks right now to protect themselves from getting sick and to flatten the curve as much as possible,” said Alpert.
To take part, healthcare workers can fill out either the "I need masks" or "I have masks" form on Mask-Match.com. Mask-Match will then verify the identities of healthcare workers before matching them with a donor who will receive their shipping address to send masks directly. Masks are not for purchase or reselling, and those who are matched with a healthcare worker are expected to cover the cost of shipping and handling.
At the time of publication, 1,838 healthcare workers have requested masks, with 783 donors to match need.
Follow Lioness on Twitter for the latest updates on the Mask-Match initiative.
