Liberty County employees step up to provide hand sanitizer to local hospitals, first responders

Pct. 1 Commissioner Bruce Karbowski explains the process county employees went through to create hand sanitizer for local hospitals and first responders in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is pictured with staff members at Liberty-Dayton Regional Medical Center.

Hundreds of bottles of hand sanitizer were delivered to hospitals, police and fire departments, doctors offices and ambulance services this week courtesy of Liberty County employees.

On Thursday, Pct. 1 Commissioner Bruce Karbowski and Sheriff’s Deputy Zack Harkness spent part of the day delivering the bottles to the grateful employees of these agencies. The bottles were filled at the Pct. 1 Road and Bridge Barn by county employees.

This was the second round of hand sanitizer created by county employees using isopropyl alcohol, also referred to as rubbing alcohol, aloe vera and essential oils, the latter of which was donated by The Health Fix Store in Liberty.

Matt Thornton, CEO of Liberty-Dayton Regional Medical Center, said the hand sanitizer will be put to good use by the hospital employees as he has been unable to find supplies for staff.

“All of our normal supply chains have been cut off. We are not able to get resources that way, especially for PPEs (personal protective equipment),” Thornton said.

So far, Liberty County hospitals have avoided hospitalizing victims of COVID-19 even though the county has 16 confirmed cases. Most of the victims are isolating at home and are experiencing mild symptoms. However, medical workers still run the risk of coming in contact with Coronavirus germs, which may lead to COVID-19 disease, while testing people suspected of having the disease.

Karbowski is expecting another pallet of supplies for hand sanitizer this week. He is hoping these will go to nursing homes and retirement homes, and to supplement the supplies for first responders.

Pct. 1 Commissioner Bruce Karbowski and Liberty-Dayton Regional Medical Center CEO Matt Thornton hold some of the bottles of hand sanitizer that were delivered to the hospital on Thursday.
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Before creating Bluebonnet News in 2018, Vanesa Brashier was a community editor for the Houston Chronicle/Houston Community Newspapers. During part of her 12 years at the newspapers, she was assigned as the digital editor and managing editor for the Humble Observer, Kingwood Observer, East Montgomery County Observer and the Lake Houston Observer, and the editor of the Dayton News, Cleveland Advocate and Eastex Advocate. Over the years, she has earned more than two dozen writing awards, including Journalist of the Year.

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