The amount, or lack thereof, of personal protective equipment has been a major issue for health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis. With a shortage of masks, for example, some doctors have been forced to use bandanas and scarves to protect themselves when supplies run low.
Another piece of personal protective equipment (PPE) in need is face shields, which are used by health care workers to protect their face from body fluids from coronavirus-positive patients. And one of Chicago's largest tech hubs is working to make sure local doctors have access to this vital piece of PPE.
mHUB, a Chicago manufacturing incubator and innovation space for hardware startups, is working with Northwestern Medicine to develop a prototype and ship equipment to its health care workers who need it most. Northwestern Medicine reached out to mHUB just over a week ago, and mHUB is wrapping an initial run of 6,000 face shields. Around 500 face shields will go to Northwestern in an initial order, and mHUB plans to work with the group to determine larger needs, director of marketing Shannon McGhee said.
mHUB is also in discussions with other health systems to determine additional demand. mHUB has the capacity to produce about 1,500 face shields per day, McGhee said.
mHUB is also exploring ways to quickly produce N95 masks and low-cost ventilators, and is working with the City of Chicago and State of Illinois to determine the specific PPE demands.
The effort is part of a larger initiative by mHUB and other Chicago tech hubs like 1871 and MATTER to tap into their networks of industry experts and help fight the coronavirus pandemic.
