Northland Hospitals Work Together in Mask Drive

“When we get masks like this, it really feels like the community is stepping up for us."

DULUTH, Minn. – Masks, masks, and more masks. This is what St. Luke’s and Essentia Health are trying to raise in their “Land of 10,000 Masks” campaign.

“When we get masks like this, it really feels like the community is stepping up for us and it feels like they’re giving us love too in a very concrete way that really helps us and our patients stay safe so it’s really important for that reason too,” said Dr. Andrea Boehland, Essentia Health.

Both St. Luke’s and Essentia are raising awareness to try and reach 5,000 masks per organization as they help limit the spread of COVID-19.

“We wanted to do this initiative together to demonstrate how we are all in this together as well and it’s important that we support one another and grateful for that,” said Catherine Carter Huber, Executive Director of St. Luke’s Foundation.

St. Luke’s currently has 2,400 masks and Essentia Health has more than 2,000. Many of them have already been distributed.

Health experts say the virus can be spread through droplet transmission, which means it’s critically important to cover your mouth and nose.

“We need lots more cloth masks at both hospitals in order to keep patients and staff safe and so we’re working together, asking the community to step up because we really need more masks. So please sew,” said Boehland.

Both St. Luke’s and Essentia have drop-off sites for their masks and VIP Pizza in Superior is also helping out by letting you drop off masks there as well.