Ford Motor Company, joining forces with firms including 3M and GE Healthcare, is lending its manufacturing and engineering expertise to quickly expand production of urgently needed medical equipment and supplies for healthcare workers, first responders and patients fighting coronavirus.
Ford is working with 3M to manufacture at scale Powered Air-Purifying Respirators (PAPRs). The companies are collaborating on the new design leveraging parts from both companies to meet urgent demand for first responders and health care workers.
Also, Ford and GE Healthcare are working together to expand production of a simplified version of GE Healthcare’s existing ventilator design to support patients with respiratory failure or difficulty breathing.
In addition, Ford Motor Co. is making good on its promise of producing face shields in the fight to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic in Michigan. Ford plans to assemble more than 100,000 face shields per week to produce plastic FDA-approved face shields for hospitals around the country in need of supplies.
On Tuesday Ford delivered the first 1,250 units of Face Shields to Henry Ford Health Systems, DMC Sinai-Grace, DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital and the University of Michigan.
Then on Thursday Ford delivered another 1500 face shields to Karmanos Cancer Institute (250), Henry Ford Health Systems (250), St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital (500) and VA Medical Center Ann Arbor (500) each received shipments.
“At Ford, we feel a deep obligation to step up and contribute in times of need, just as we always have through the 117-year history of our company,” said Bill Ford, Ford’s executive chairman.
