Essentia Health to Donate 20,000 Face Masks After Mask Mandate, Rise In Cases

DULUTH, Minn.– Essentia Health is stepping up to make sure as many people have masks as possible during the mask mandate in Duluth and as cases continue to rise.

Essentia is donating 20,000 procedure face masks to local organizations. Most masks will be going to the Duluth branch of the NAACP and Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank.

Hospital officials tell us the donation is the right thing to do after a community mask drive early on in the pandemic added up to more than 12,000 hand-made masks for hospital staff, patients and visitors.

“We are grateful for the support the community gave to us and I’m so happy that we can give back now,” said Dr. Andrea Boehland, Emergency Medicine Physician at Essentia Health.