With the virus pandemic of the coronavirus significantly impacting the country, a considerable strain is being placed on the United States healthcare system. Hospitals are starting to realize that they were severely under-prepared for a massive virus outbreak like the coronavirus. To help stop the growing shortage of medical supplies, major brands of all industries are mass producing these products in their facilities.
One of the most heavily impacted cities is New York City. As the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus have risen, a growing number of hospitals can not keep up with the demand for the ventilator systems. Without ventilators, a respiratory virus like the coronavirus could lead to extreme trouble breathing or even death. On March 22nd, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio stated: "if we don't get more ventilators in the next 10-days, people will die who don't have to die."
GM, Ford, and Tesla Made Ventilators
To meet the demand of the needed ventilators, large automotive manufacturers are stepping up to the plate to increase production speeds. To help lessen the shortage of ventilator systems, major automotive manufacturers GM, Ford, and Tesla are partnering with medical device manufacturers to mass-produce ventilators to help supply the hospitals in need. More urgently, New York City is getting the bulk of these produced ventilators by the automotive manufacturers. Currently, New York City has around 6,000 ventilators on hand; New York City is projected to need nearly 30,000 to meet the demand of the pandemic.
Tesla
Tesla founder Elon Musk has become proactive in the fight against the coronavirus by recently supplying Los Angeles with 1,200+ ventilators to use for their struggling hospitals with a ventilator shortage. Elon Musk is also converting his Tesla Gigafactory in New York City into a ventilator production facility after pairing up with a medical device manufacturer to increase production speeds. Elon Musk has stated that the factory will start production "as fast as humanly possible." With the coronavirus quickly growing in confirmed cases, this is an urgent need for the impacted communities across the United States.
Trump Encourages Tesla, GM & Ford To Make Ventilators
General Motors (GM)
GM has paired up with the medical device manufacturer Ventec Life Systems to increase the quantity and speed of production for their life-saving ventilator systems. By partnering with GM, Ventec Life Systems can use the production expertise of this popular automotive manufacturer to get more ventilators to more hospitals much faster than average. GM is known for its expertise in logistics, purchasing power, and manufacturing, which makes it the perfect partner to ramp up the ventilator production during these times.
Ford
Ford has teamed up with major medical manufacturers 3M and GE to increase production speeds of both ventilators and respirator masks. Ford will use a large part of its supply chain in the production of these critical medical devices. Ford will be using some parts that are used in the production of their vehicles for making these ventilators. Along with ventilators, Ford will supply medical facilities with the needed 3M respirator masks to help protect them against the coronavirus, which is transmitted mainly through the air.