Mpi43/MediaPunch/IPxFord’s partnership with GE Healthcare expects to produce 50,000 simplified ventilators by July 8 to help critically ill coronavirus patients, with cranked-up production of 30,000 per month after that as needed, the companies said in a conference call on Monday. Ford and GE Healthcare, which is licensing the design from Airon, will need to receive emergency use authorization from the FDA to produce them at scale at Ford’s Rawsonville components plant in Ypsilanti. The Airon ventilator, which operates on air pressure without the need for electricity, currently sells for about $7,000, compared with more complex ventilators which go for $20,000 and up. Ford’s Rawsonville plant will produce ventilators nearly round-the-clock with three shifts of 500 UAW union workers. “The Ford and GE Healthcare teams, working creatively and tirelessly, have found a way to produce this vitally needed ventilator quickly and in meaningful numbers,” Ford CEO Jim Hackett said in a statement.

Source: Forbes March 30, 2020 20:48 UTC