Relief package billions can’t buy hospitals out of shortages

MARTHA MENDOZA and JULIET LINDERMAN Associated Press The billions of tax dollars headed for hospitals and states as part of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus response bill won't fix the problem facing doctors and nurses: a critical shortage of protective gowns, gloves and masks. The problem isn't a lack of money, experts say. It's that there's not enough of those supplies available to buy. What's more, the crisis has revealed a fragmented procurement system now descending into chaos just as demand soars, The Associated Press has found. Hospitals, state governments and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are left bidding against each other and driving up prices. For more than a week, governors have pushed back against administration assurances that supplies are available now, bitterly