President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a ventilator loan program that could make up to 60,000 devices available to people infected by COVID-19.
Under the so-called Dynamic Ventilator Reserve plan, large health systems would loan their unused ventilators to providers in coronavirus hot spots. Providers would get access to the reserve supply if they promise to donate ventilators to hotspot hospitals when called on, Reuters originally reported.
"We're preparing ventilator capacity for any and all scenarios. Initiatives like the Dynamic Ventilator Reserve will help us to achieve that goal. We need ventilators but now we're pretty well stocked," Trump said during a meeting with healthcare executives.
The Trump administration contacted the American Hospital Association and suppliers to create a lending program after it learned that up to 60,000 ventilators were unused.
"Within the past week alone, 20 top health systems have signed up for this dynamic ventilator reserve, representing over 4,000 ventilators," said Adam Boehler, a former HHS official working on the administration's coronavirus response. Boehler is currently CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.
Participating health systems include The Cleveland Clinic, HCA Healthcare and Ascension, among others.
