President Moves to Ramp Up Ventilator Production

President Trump uses Defense Production Act to order Health and Human Services and Department of Homeland Security to facilitate increased ventilator production by six manufacturers.

• By David Kopf
• Apr 02, 2020

Citing the Defense Production Act, President Trump has ordered Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf to facilitate a surge in the production of ventilators.

In a memorandum released today, President Trump ordered the agencies to “use any and all authority available under the Act to facilitate the supply of materials to the appropriate subsidiary or affiliate” of several ventilator manufacturers: General Electric, Hill-Rom Holdings, Medtronic, ResMed, Royal Philips and Vyaire Medical.

“I am grateful to these and other domestic manufacturers for ramping up their production of ventilators during this difficult time,” an accompanying statement from the President read. “Today’s order will save lives by removing obstacles in the supply chain that threaten the rapid production of ventilators.”

Following the announcement, ResMed released a company statement that it was pleased that the administration prioritized access to ventilator components.

“We encourage automakers, aerospace equipment producers, and other non-ventilation manufacturers to help us source or create more of these components and accessories for ventilators, strengthening the supply chain that all ventilator makers are drawing from to help meet this rising global demand and save lives,” ResMed urged in its statement.