Exactly. What else are they supposed to do? Jack up the cost of medical care by buying millions of extra ventilators that will probably never be needed? Obviously, in a major pandemic, lots of people are going to die, and it makes sense to prioritize saving the ones who actually have a chance of getting out bed and doing something with their lives.
It may make sense to buy some additional ventilators, but as you have mentioned money is limited. Buying enough of them to deal with what may happen takes money away from what is happening.