Coronavirus: Seamstresses donate personal protective equipment to South LA hospital

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Like all hospitals across Los Angeles County, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles is preparing for a surge of COVID-19 patients. Those preparations have raised concern over a shortage of personal protective equipment for hospital staff.

"We are going through supplies at a rate at which we would typically go through them, but without the replacement supplies that are typically shipped into us," said Dyan Sublett, president of MLK Community Health Foundation.

That's because the need for personal protective equipment is up at hospitals across the country due to the coronavirus.

Enter Judge Teresa Sanchez Gordon and fashion designer Mylette Nora, two South Los Angeles residents who are talented seamstresses.

"Vanessa Sanchez-Gordon said to me 'I want to help and we can make masks, we can make gowns and we'll do them according to specifications.' They did precisely that. They got their knitting groups together. They're going to do more," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Hospital staff received about 100 masks and gowns, which were donated on Friday, with more on the way.

The community is stepping up in a moment of crisis to make sure those on the front lines are safe.

"It's a huge morale booster to our nurses and doctors who are concerned themselves for their health and the safety of their own families. That shows them that when the government is under strain and not able to respond, the community is there," said Sublett.

Those who would like to donate to help hospital staff at MLK Community Hospital can visit MLK-CHF.org.