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Westmoreland County company ramps up production of ventilators to help meet need

MURRYSVILLE, Pa. — Philip Respironics in Westmoreland County is increasing production to meet the desperate need for ventilators around the world.

Company leaders announced it will partner with government agencies for the ramped-up production. Leaders said they want to go from producing 1,000 to 4,000 ventilators a week in an effort to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

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“Our ability to help with the shortage around the world is wonderful, but it’s not nearly enough if you listen to the figures that are out there,” John Frank, Business Leader of Sleep and Respiratory Care at Philips, said.

The goal is to increase production to the point where they are making the amount of ventilators in a few weeks that previously took six months.

“Getting to 1,000 units produced a week, to doubling that amount of capacity, we intend to do that by May. And then a four-fold increase to 4,000 units by the third quarter,” Frank said.

The company has local plants in Murrysville and Lower Burrell. Just this week, Philips announced it’s beginning large-scale production of up to 15,000 CPAP machines a week in Lower Burrell.

“That’s what we refer to more as a crisis-type ventilator that’s ideal and very versatile to use for these types of COVID patients in the hospital when there isn’t an ICU-type ventilator to use,” Frank said.

The company is working with FEMA to deliver 43,000 units to hospitals across the United States.

Leaders with the company said there’s a tremendous demand ahead that’s yet to be seen, but the need being filled here is bringing a sense of pride to the Pittsburgh area.

“The work force in western Pennsylvania has always prided themselves for many years on helping people to save lives. When the call came in, you can imagine the responsiveness we’ve had from the workforce and how they’ve been tremendous in stepping up to deliver,” Frank said.

To help with the increased production, Philips is hiring at both of its local plants.