Sara Gideon’s recent op-ed (“Maine’s health care workers need protective equipment, federal action now,” The Times Record, April 5) is woefully misinformed. Either Maine’s Speaker of the House isn’t paying attention to what is happening in Washington, or she is cherry picking statistics to misrepresent current events for political gain.

Either option is unbecoming for someone who is asking voters for a promotion.

As everyone would agree, personal protective equipment (PPE) is critically important for medical providers and first responders. But there is a misleading statistic floating around, parroted by Gideon, that Maine only received 5% of its requests for face masks while Florida received 100%.  In fact, if you do the math you see that Maine’s request of a half-million was far greater per capita than Florida’s. So, Maine has actually received one mask for every 15 residents from the national stockpile, while Florida has received one mask for every 40 of its residents.

Nevertheless, Maine’s congressional delegation recognizes that the need could very well outpace the supply, which is why Congress provided more than $16 billion in additional funding for the Strategic National Stockpile through Phase I and III coronavirus response legislation. That hardly represents inaction on Congress’ part, as Gideon indicated.

As a potential solution to shortages of critical medical equipment, Gideon indicates strong support for the Medical Supply Chain Emergency Act. This bill, however, appears to be a solution in search of a problem, and nothing more than a Democratic, election year push for headlines. This bill is pointless because it would compel the president to do what he is already doing – invoke the Defense Production Act to coordinate manufacturing of key supplies. In addition to working with American manufacturers to coordinate production efforts voluntarily, the president has issued an order to increase domestic manufacturing of ventilators and N-95 masks.

Gideon also urges the federal government to increase funding for community health centers to support rural areas. However, had she reviewed the three new stimulus laws, she would see that Congress already appropriated $8.3 billion for community health centers.  Most recently, Sens.s Susan Collins and Angus King announced that 18 health centers in Maine were awarded more than $13 million, on top of the $1 million they received last month, to “immediately address screening and testing needs, acquire medical supplies, and boost telehealth capacity” to respond to COVID-19.

The most recent stimulus package also provides a 20% pay bump to hospitals that treat admitted COVID-19 patients, and roughly $10 billion to provide relief to long-term care hospitals and inpatient rehab facilities grappling with the cost of regulatory requirements. Gideon also appears to overlook a $100 billion fund for hospitals and other health providers, and another $200 million for broadband improvements to support telehealth.

While Gideon got a lot of basic information wrong, she got one thing right. Now is the time for leadership, and that’s exactly what Maine’s congressional delegation is doing, working together in a bipartisan fashion.  But, let’s be honest, Gideon’s real goal is to criticize Sen. Collins. Gideon is seeking her party’s nomination to challenge the senator, and while she provides “solutions” in the form of partisan do-nothing legislation, Collins paved the way on a groundbreaking new law that has already invested more than $510 million in direct support to Maine’s small businesses and their employees.  Meanwhile, under Speaker Gideon’s leadership, the State House is closed and Mainers can’t access timely unemployment benefits because the state Department of Labor is overwhelmed.

Some people are born to lead, and some are born to follow. Sen. Collins has demonstrated her ability to bring diverse groups together to enact solutions that make a real difference while Sara Gideon has again proven that anything, even a pandemic, can be made political.

Linda Baker is a former Maine state senator. She lives in Topsham.

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