A Connecticut medical device manufacturer will produce ventilators for the state. Governor Ned Lamont has contracted with the company for the work. This comes as the Trump administration has turned down the state’s request for 1,500 ventilators.
Lamont visited Guilford-based ventilator manufacturer Bio-Med Devices on Sunday to commend the company for increasing production to help meet the state’s need.
“They’ve committed to 100 ventilators to the state of Connecticut. And I’m really hoping, talking to Dean, that they are going to be able to ramp up their production. They’ve been talking about as much as 500, even a thousand ventilators, if we can get the parts and if we can put together the manpower.”
Dean Bennett is CEO of Bio-Med Devices. He says the problem is that many of the parts are from China.
“We are working seven days a week right now. We are working overtime during the week. We are looking at adding a second shift. The problem is going to be raw materials.”
Lamont says the Trump administration rerouted Connecticut’s order of 1,500 ventilators, claiming the state’s case for ventilators is not as urgent as some other places. Connecticut hospitals currently have about 950 ventilators.
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