Detroit — General Motors Co. plans to hand off control of its ventilator production to its partner on the project, Ventec Life Systems.
GM and Ventec have so far delivered more than 20,000 ventilators to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and they are on track to complete a federal government order for 30,000 ventilators by the end of August.
There’s still a need for the machines, so after the completion of the HHS contract, GM will hand off operational control to Ventec to continue manufacturing operations in Kokomo, Indiana, along with continued expanded production at Ventec’s headquarters in Bothell, Washington.
It was quickly realized that there weren’t enough ventilators in stock throughout the U.S. when the coronavirus started to spread months ago. Ventilators have been utilized to help COVID-19 patients in respiratory distress.
khall@detroitnews.com
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