HUDSON, Ohio — Pictures and videos are surfacing on social media showing healthcare workers and injuries they're sustaining from wearing personal protective equipment.
The masks are leaving workers with raw skin and bruised faces.
A Hudson-based company recognized the problem and wanted to help.
GEMCORE, a medical supplies company, donated 4,000 wound care dressings to the Cleveland Clinic and 4,000 to University Hospitals.
"It feels absolutely wonderful that our owners, the Edwards family, always feels so compelled to give back in any case and this is just another one of those cases," said Paul Tracy, president of GEMCORE.
The silicon dressings, usually worn by patients who have a wound, act as a barrier on the face between the mask and skin.
Tracy said the dressings can be worn a few times before they have to be thrown out.
"If your skin is raw from wearing these things, you have to let it mend. These types of products just allow them to stay a little bit longer, wear that head gear without incident," Tracy said.
GEMCORE has been operating during the stay at home order, as an essential business, and Tracy said, they knew they needed to give back in some way.
"We have two large institutions here right in our backyard in Cleveland and we thought what better way to donate to some of the staff there," the company's president said.
In addition to their donation to the two hospital systems, GEMCORE donated to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank to help provide 100,000 meals. The company is also providing lunch for their employees to help support local restaurants.
