Today, Edward Pesicka, President and CEO of Owens & Minor, a leading manufacturer of HALYARD* branded Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), welcomed the announcement from President Biden of the National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness.
“Thank you, President Biden,” said Pesicka. “When Americans mask up during this crucial phase in the pandemic, we want them to reach for a Made in America mask and other PPE whenever possible. Our 15,000 teammates have been working continuously throughout the pandemic to answer the call of our country. We welcome President Biden’s thoughtful and comprehensive approach to combating this pandemic and we look forward to working with the administration.”
As one of the world’s largest vertically integrated manufacturers of a full range of healthcare PPE, and a leading distributor of medical supplies, Owens & Minor delivered more than 12 billion PPE units in the United States in 2020. Owens & Minor owns and operates an Americas-based manufacturing footprint – manufacturing our own raw materials in North Carolina and converting that raw material into N95 respirators, isolation gowns, surgical gowns, ear loop masks, and other PPE in its own plants in Texas, Mexico, and Honduras. Owens & Minor is also one of the very few U.S. companies to manufacture nitrile gloves at large scale within its own factory in Southeast Asia. “We offer our large-scale manufacturing expertise to the administration,” added Pesicka.
In 2020, Owens & Minor made significant investments in capital, operational efficiency, rate of operation, and expanded its workforce to ramp up production and delivery of PPE. These investments were supplemented by a Technology Investment Agreement (TIA) from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
As a result of these combined efforts, Owens & Minor achieved:
- More than 1000% increase in N95 respirator production at three Americas locations
- Nearly 100% increase in surgical and procedure mask production
- More than 600% increase in face shields production
- A 300% increase in isolation gown production
Owens & Minor was also selected as one of five companies to work with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to produce approximately 600 million N95 respirator masks for the U.S. market.