Gov. Gavin Newsom, joined by San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, visited Bloom Energy in Sunnyvale on Saturday — one of many California companies answering the call to produce equipment for hospitals amid the COVID-19 crisis.
Normally a fuel cell manufacturer, Bloom Energy received a call from Newsom's office on March 17, asking if they could quickly learn how to refurbish old, broken ventilators.
In just over a week, the company has repaired and shipped hundreds of ventilators to agencies and hospitals throughout the state.
At the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, there were roughly 7,500 ventilators in all of California's hospitals combined. Newsom said the state set a goal of making 10,000 more ventilators available and has already reached the halfway mark.
"So everybody look in your basement, look in that old garage. If you've got old equipment and you want to send it, send it our way and we'll send it right here to this facility," Newsom said.
