Will protect frontline COVID-19 healthcare workers throughout Silicon Valley.
“We’re feeling lucky,” says Valley Medical Center Foundation CEO Chris Wilder.
SAN JOSE – Responding to a national shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers, the Valley Medical Center Foundation announced today a donation of 49,000 face shields designed and assembled by teams at Google. The shields will be deployed at hospitals, clinics, skilled nursing facilities, and other high-risk environments throughout Santa Clara County during the COVID-19 crisis.
“Google is stepping up in our most trying time in Santa Clara County,” said Cindy Chavez, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. “Thanks for standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our community.”
Google developed the face shields in consultation with physicians and nurses at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Hospitals & Clinics. The device is made of clear plastic, foam and elastic – materials that are in short supply given the high demand for PPE, and is intended to shield the face from liquid spray and droplets. Google was able to tap its global supply chain and source needed materials, and devoted a team of engineers to design and fabricate locally.
“Bottom-line, these face shields will help save lives,” said Valley Medical Center Foundation CEO Chris Wilder. “We need to keep the people on the frontline of this crisis safe and Google’s donation is helping us do just that.”
The donation caps off a month of remarkable generosity from other Silicon Valley-based companies, small businesses, faith organizations, student groups and community organizations that have donated over 2 million items of PPE to the VMC Foundation. But to Wilder, the Google donation is special.
“They put really talented people on this, worked with our experts and delivered what we needed quickly,” he said.
Face shield distribution will be coordinated by the County of Santa Clara Emergency Operations Center.
