Musk says ventilators have made it to California hospitals
Elon Musk took to Twitter on Thursday in an effort to refute claims from the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom that the Tesla chief executive has not followed through on his promise to donate ventilators to help California hospitals treat patients suffering from the effects of coronavirus.
In a series of tweets, Musk provided what he said was a “partial list” of hospitals and hospital systems that he said have received ventilators provided by Tesla. Among the California hospitals and health systems Musk named were Marin Health, with 10 ventilators, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital, with 20 ventilators, and the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, and Harbor and Olive View-UCLA Medical Centers, with a combined total of 100 ventilators.
In the Bay Area, Sequoia Hospital and Washington Hospital each received six ventilators, Musk claimed. The list also included hospitals in other states, including New York, New Jersey and Michigan that he said received ventilators.
In a tweet, Musk said the ventilator donations were “based on direct requests from their ICU wards, with exact specifications of each unit provided before shipment.”
To further prove his point, Musk also tweeted screenshots of messages — including emails and a LinkedIn post — from hospital administrators thanking Musk and his companies for the ventilator donations to their facilities.
Representatives for Tesla did not respond to a request for further comment.
Ehren Goetz, a public information officer at Mammoth Hospital, in Mammoth Lakes, confirmed that the facility received 10 ventilators from Tesla last week, and was ready to use the equipment should it become necessary.
“He reached out directly to us,” Goetz said of Musk. “We’re beyond grateful for a donation of this level.”
Musk’s tweets came on the heels of media reports this week that said Newsom’s office claimed the governor had not yet heard of any hospital or health system in California receiving any of the 1,000 ventilators that the Tesla CEO had pledged to donate to hospitals in the state. Musk made his donation plans public in March, and at a March 23 news conference, Newsom said the ventilators were on the way to hospitals around California.
During his daily news conference about the state’s coronavirus situation Thursday, Newsom said he “was not personally aware” of Musk’s list of hospitals prior to Musk’s tweets, but added that he “very encouraged” by Musk’s actions.
“I look forward to learning where they went, and I’m very grateful for his support,” Newsom said.