SSM Health St. Mary’s hospitals in Audrain County and Jefferson City are seeking donations to supplement its personal protective equipment and medical supplies in the work against the spread of COVID-19

“Like other health systems across the country, we are working to conserve supplies, as well as finding new supply sources for certain items,” SSM Health Regional Marketing and Communications Manager Jessica Royston said in an email. “This is necessary to ensure we continue to have what we need in the days and weeks ahead.”

Audrain County as of Wednesday morning has no confirmed cases of COVID-19. Cole County, however, has 23 confirmed cases of the virus as of Tuesday afternoon.

“SSM Health wishes to express how very grateful we are for the outpouring of support from our community during the pandemic,” Beverly Stafford, director of the SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation in Jefferson City, said in a news release.

Donations will be sent to areas with the greatest needs as the situation unfolds, she said. All donations should be in unopened, original packaging for safety reasons.

“We have received many calls from the community offering to help with food donations for staff, offers to make homemade masks,” Royston said. “We thought it might be helpful to put together [a] list, so if someone wants to donate items they know how to do that.”

For information on donating in Audrain County, visit the hospital’s website, call Darla Taylor, St. Mary’s — Audrain Hospital Foundation manager, at 573-582-8368 or email darla.taylor@ssmhealth.com.

In Jefferson City, people can visit the hospital foundation website, call Stafford at 573-681-3743 or email her at beverly.stafford@ssmhealth.com.

Priority needs include:

• alcohol pad wipes
• exam gloves
• goggles, face shields and safety glasses
• hand sanitizer (individual and pump bottles)
• Isopropyl alcohol
• N95 medical masks or NIOSH-certified N95 respirators (such as painter’s masks)
• protective isolation gowns
• sanitizing and bleach wipes
• display digital or forehead thermometers.

Donations drop-offs must be prearranged through Taylor in Audrain County and Stafford in Jefferson City, by phone call or email.

Donations in Audrain County will be accepted at the hospital at 620 E. Monroe St. in Mexico. All deliveries will be received at the hospital loading dock by ringing the dock doorbell.

Those who donate in Jefferson City can do so at the outpatient entrance 5 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at 2505 Mission Drive. Large quantity donations will be shipped or delivered to the hospital receiving dock.

“Our caregivers have what they need to safely deliver care,” Royston said. “However, these items are in high-demand nationwide and supplies are limited.”

Donations of homemade masks, hair covers or beard covers for Audrain County will be accepted at The Laura Miller George Help Center, 409 Fairground Street, in Mexico. Call 573-581-3238 prior to drop off.

In Jefferson City, homemade masks, beard covers and hair covers can be dropped off at United Way of Central Missouri from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday at 205 Alameda Drive. For more information, email amber.brondel@unitedwaycemo.org

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t recommend using homemade masks for COVID-19 patients, they can be used as a cover for N95 respirators, the news release stated.