GM to Make 30,000 Ventilators for National Stockpile in $489 Million Contract
April 08 2020 - 7:30AM
Dow Jones News
By Dave Sebastian
General Motors Co. is making 30,000 ventilators for the national
stockpile in a $489.4 million contract with the Department of
Health and Human Services, as surging Covid-19 cases have tested
medical capacities across the U.S.
Under the contract, struck under the Defense Production Act, GM
is expected to deliver 6,132 ventilators by June 1 and the
remainder by the end of August, the department said Wednesday.
GM said it is working with Ventec Life Systems to make the
ventilators.
President Trump last week moved to use the Defense Production
Act, a Korean War-era national-security mobilization law, to help
major manufacturers secure supplies companies need to make
ventilators and respirators. 3M Co., the primary U.S. producer of
N95 masks, has stepped up production, with Ford Motor Co. helping
with the effort.
Initially reluctant to use the DPA, Mr. Trump has pressed
private companies, including GM, to begin making the medical
equipment and supplies.
"By rating contracts under the DPA, HHS is helping manufacturers
like GM get the supplies they need to produce ventilators as
quickly as possible, while also ensuring that these ventilators are
routed through the Strategic National Stockpile to where they're
needed most," Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar
said.
Ventilators are in crucial short supply as the coronavirus
pandemic spreads across the U.S., and cases are swelling in major
metro areas, such as New York. The federal government's national
stockpile has sent out nearly half of its ventilators and has fewer
than 10,000 still in hand.
Write to Dave Sebastian at dave.sebastian@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 08, 2020 08:15 ET (12:15 GMT)
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