Made on Maui
Ventilators ready for hospital
Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino on Wednesday got to see some of the bridge ventilators headed to Maui Memorial Medical Center that were manufactured on Maui with county funds.
HNu Photonics has manufactured 40 bridge ventilators, with guidance from medical experts. Dan O’Connell of HNu Photonics said his company moved quickly to fully develop and manufacture 40 ventilators.
They will be headed to Maui Memorial in the near future, county officials said.
Maui Innovation Group is in the process of building 24 emergency ventilators for local medical providers, the county said. The company plans to have about a dozen completed by the end of this week, with the remaining hopefully ready by next week.
The more than 60 bridge ventilators were being built with $100,000 from the county.The ventilators are not the machines that cost thousands of dollars, the lieutenant governor’s office said last month when the project was announced. Rather, the locally produced emergency bridge ventilators have a simpler design with a bag pumping air instead of someone having to squeeze a bag.
The bridge ventilators can assist those who have breathing issues but may not yet require the full capacity ventilator or someone who is waiting for a ventilator.
Ventilators are important tools in treating the more severe cases of COVID-19.
“These ventilators are critical to treat people in upper respiratory distress, including those suffering from COVID19,” Victorino said. “Now, our health care system will have greater capacity to meet patient needs.”
He thanked both locally based companies “for stepping up to take on this incredible challenge.”
O’Connell, whose Kahuluibased company recently developed a biolab for the International Space Station, said “it has been a major effort, long days and weekends.”
“However, my entire staff are very proud to support the local community with life support equipment in response to the urgent need,” he said.
O’Connell said his company is receiving requests for bridge ventilators from San Diego, New York, Maine and multiple countries, including Great Britain, India and Mexico.
“We literally stopped work on our NASA contracts to develop this life support medical instrument to support Maui County’s needs to fight the coronavirus,” he said.
Ned Davis said his team at Maui Innovation Group, based in the Maui Research & Technology Park, has been on conference calls “every day, including Easter Sunday, working on these ventilators.”
Their focus is to be ready if there is a second wave of COVID-19 in the county, especially in rural places like Hana, Molokai and Lanai.
“It’s truly been a fascinating process, and we’re just honored to be involved with this effort to help our health care workers,” said Davis.
“We appreciate the mayor and his foresight in arranging for these ventilators that were built in Maui for our Maui community,” said Maui Health System spokeswoman Tracy Dallarda. “These ventilators will help us further prepare for our future needs.”
Maui Health operates Maui Memorial Medical Center.