By now many have seen our video The COVID Manifesto about the silencing of clinicians on the front lines who are speaking up about the lack of PPE and other resources during this crisis. In the beginning of that video I cited the firing of Dr. Ming Lin as the prime example of the failures of the “administrative technocracy.”

Well now folks who were wondering “what on earth were they thinking?” can finally get an answer.

Richard DeCarlo is a former ER nurse and current Chief Operating Officer of PeaceHealth. He joined me for a frank discussion about what happened, and more importantly, what’s really going on in the struggle to prepare hospitals for the COVID-19 onslaught.

Topics we discussed include Dr. Lin’s termination, the state of preparation of their hospitals in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington state, the struggles with securing adequate PPE, and most importantly the absence of testing ability and its impact on the “burn rate” of PPE.