NJ, neighboring states band together to buy PPE, ventilators, medical equipment

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New Jersey and six neighboring states will coordinate buying medical supplies and personal protective equipment, officials announced May 3, pooling resources together for the COVID-19 response in one of the world’s hardest-hit areas.

“We’re going to form a consortium,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a Sunday afternoon press conference – a move that could mean states would not have to compete and outbid each other for the supplies.

All told, the seven states will buy a combined $5 billion in medical equipment. Banding together would make the group far more competitive in the international marketplace and “get the equipment at a better price,” Cuomo added.

Cuomo was joined Sunday by Gov. Phil Murphy and the governors of Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

“We’ve been borrowing, bartering for equipment, ventilators and PPE,” Murphy said. “The notion of coordinating together as a region makes an enormous amount of sense.”

The states have coordinated on various aspects of the COVID-19 response, such as how to lift heavy restrictions on public gatherings, nonessential travel and which businesses cannot stay open – gyms, casinos, dine-in restaurants, hair salons and move theaters – and how to reopen their economies.

Murphy has argued that a regional approach to containing the COVID-19 outbreak, and now preparing for a widely expected second wave, are the best approaches.

“This is a perfect example of our relationship,” he said.

The governors on Sunday also put out a call for at least more of that equipment to be produced within one of those states.

“‘Not only should we not have to be scouring the world for this, but it ought to be made in the U.S.A., and better yet made in our states,” Murphy added.