KEY POINTS

  • New York City's Elmhurst Hospital in Queens received 40 ventilators from Tesla
  • The team at the hospital thanked Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for the donation
  • Musk tweeted that he is ready to provide more ventilators if needed

Tesla donated 40 ventilators to a team of health workers at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst in Queens. The coronavirus pandemic has put extreme pressure New York City’s healthcare system.

With new COVID-19 patients arriving every hour, the hospitals are in dire need of equipment including ventilators. Teslarati reported that Tesla delivered ventilators to the hospital in the city. The team of healthcare workers tweeted a photo expressing gratitude towards the donation made by the company’s CEO Elon Musk.

Musk replied that he would be happy to provide more ventilators if needed.

On March 31, Musk took to Twitter to announce that the company has extra ventilators. He said that the tech company is ready to ship them worldwide within Tesla delivery regions free of cost.

“We have extra FDA-approved ventilators. Will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Device & shipping cost are free. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse,” Musk tweeted.

Meanwhile, ResMed’s, a San Diego, California based medical equipment company, CEO Mick Farrell said on Wednesday that the company is increasing the production of ventilators to meet the global demand. Farrell said on CNBC’s “Mad Money” that his company is looking for help in production.

During the interview, Farrell stated that ResMed can use Tesla’s help in manufacturing lithium-ion batteries.

He applauded SpaceX CEO for purchasing and distributing non-invasive ventilators manufactured by ResMed.

“He went up and bought what I would call bi-level, non-invasive ventilators from a platform of ours from 5 years ago, from Asia, and brought 1,000 of them over to New York...If there’s product out there and you can move that for us, that’s fantastic,” Farrell said.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus death toll in New York City is close to 1,400. The confirmed coronavirus cases in New York State have reached 83,712 as more than 3,000 people remain in intensive care.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been credited with the electric company's surge over the last five months
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been credited with the electric company's surge over the last five months AFP / Frederic J. BROWN