As the state of California scrambles to obtain more
ventilators, a Silicon Valley company has stepped up and is refurbishing older
ventilators to fill the urgent need during the coronavirus pandemic.
On Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom and San Jose Mayor Sam
Liccardo toured the Bloom Energy facility in Sunnyvale, where work on the ventilators
is already underway.
“At the end of the day, we know the one treatment that works
is ventilators, so we need more Blooms,” Newsom said.
Before coronavirus, Bloom Energy was making fuel cells, but
the company saw a need and switched gears. The company put together a “tiger
team” with government leaders, downloaded a ventilator manual and taught
employees overnight how to repair ventilators. They then set up an assembly
line and went to work.
“A week ago none of us knew anything about ventilators, but
we knew that manufacturing is in our DNA, and innovation is in our DNA,” said
K.R. Sridharan, Bloom Energy CEO.
The company delivered its first 20 repaired and upgraded
ventilators to hospitals this week and employees are now working on
refurbishing 200 more.
The company said it’s doing the same thing at its facility
back east.
Source: NBC Bay Area