As Wheat Ridge’s Lutheran Medical Center continues to prep for an influx of COVID-19 patients and an accompanying shortage of the essential supplies necessary to treat them, it is turning to the community for help.

SCL Health, which operates Lutheran Medical Center and three other hospitals on the Front Range, is now engaged in several ongoing efforts to support its health care providers with equipment and supplies, including community drives and other efforts put together by associates.

AS SCL aims to ensure it has enough hospital masks, it has launched “Operation We Can Sew It,” an effort to enlist members of the greater Denver community in the production of surgical masks that can be used in hospitals. Those looking to help sew masks can sign up on the Operation We Can Sew It website, they will be sent a pattern and instructions for how to begin sewing a mask. According to the website, the masks are approved for hospital use.

According to Liz Baker, the marketing manager at Lutheran, the hospital is also currently producing both sterile wrap and masks at Lutheran.

In addition, Lutheran is also accepting donations of new, unused and unopened medical supplies. Those supplies include gloves, masks, face shields, goggles, hand sanitizer and disposable gowns. A full list of supplies can be found at sclhealth.org/donate-supplies/. The hospital has set up a donation spot where supplies can be dropped off with no personal contact. Donations are currently being accepted on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“Our health care workers, like many other first responders, are on the front lines every day,” Baker said in an email. “The Lutheran team is putting every effort into caring for their patients and each other during this time, and they are grateful for the support they are receiving.”