Saskatchewan Health Authority tries to recycle unusable medical PPE

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is looking for a contractor to recycle expired or sub-standard personal protective equipment (PPE) purchased during the pandemic.

The SHA says gowns in storage in Regina and Saskatoon can no longer be used because they do not meet standards.

Some of the supplies expired before being deployed for use in medical facilities.

Although the federal government supplied a large amount of PPE to SHA free of charge, SHA, concerned about global shortages, sourced additional PPE, which the health authority has been unable to use.

Rather than landfill the unusable PPE, the SHA wants to recycle it.

According to a report by CJME, in 2023, the SHA also sought a contractor to dispose of thousands of liters of expired hand sanitizer sourced at the beginning of the pandemic.

A previous disposal of medical PPE occurred under the oversight of the federal government just prior to the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic

The failure of the Public Health Agency of Canada to properly manage and rotate PPE stored in a warehouse in Regina resulted in the disposal of $1.2 million worth of N95 masks, face shields, surgical masks, and gowns in September 2019.

The destruction of the masks held in the National Emergency Supply Stockpile led to PHAC purchasing replacements at inflated costs due to COVID-19 demand.

According to The Canadian Taxpayers Federation, masks that originally cost forty-four cents each were purchased from the American supplier 3M at $1.21 each - a three hundred percent markup