The United States District Court is donating unused emergency medical supplies to hospitals near each of our division offices in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces. On Monday UNM Hospital in Albuquerque received 280 N95 particulate masks plus gloves, goggles, and other supplies, and on Tuesday Mountain View Hospital in Las Cruces received their donation, which included 105 N95 masks. In total the District of New Mexico will donate more than 450 N95 masks, plus hundreds of gloves, boxes of paper gowns, and other needed items like goggles and procedure masks. The surplus equipment was purchased back in 2008 after the Anthrax alert, but can now be put to use to aid local healthcare providers in desperate need of supplies. The District of New Mexico joins other courts making similar donations across the country, a gesture that Administrative Office Director James Duff calls, “one small way the federal Judiciary can help the greater cause of defeating this deadly virus.”
The Court has already implemented several measures to protect employees and the public from the spread of the virus, including limiting courthouse access, increasing the use of telework and other social distancing measures, providing hand sanitizer in public areas, and enhanced cleaning procedures. Visit our COVID-19 page to find out about the latest measures in the face of this rapidly evolving situation.