Weiss Hospital Receives Supply of New Ventilators For COVID-19 Patients

messages to the healthcare workers from the factory workers
photo credit: Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune

On Friday afternoon, two pallets of much-needed new ventilators arrived at Weiss Hospital to much fanfare.

They are among the first ventilators assembled at the GM factory in Kokomo, Indiana. GM brought back 1,000 laid-off workers and trained them to produce ventilators, which provide respiratory assistance to patients who have trouble breathing on their own. General Motors is under contract with the government to produce 30,000 ventilators, which have been in great demand since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Workers at the Kokomo plant signed their names to the boxes coming to the hospitals and added encouraging messages directed to the healthcare workers treating patients.

There have been 12 deaths from COVID-19 at Weiss, and there are currently about 50 patients being treated for it, most of them elderly.  NBC has an article listing what nursing homes and senior care homes are linked with reported cases of COVID-19, including several in Uptown.

For more about the new ventilators:

• Ventilators For COVID-19 Patients Arrive In Chicago (CBS2)
• GM delivered its first medical ventilators: Where they went (USA Today)
• First batch of GM-made ventilators headed for Chicago (Chicago Tribune)
• First responders show their appreciation for hospital workers on the city’s North Side with a parade and doughnuts (Chicago Tribune)
• Chicago Firefighters Stop by Hospital to Cheer on Health Care Workers (NBC5)
• NW Indiana Car Factory Delivers Ventilators to Uptown Hospital (NBC5)