ventilators

General Motors CEO Mary Barra said the automaker learned valuable lessons last year when it converted an Indiana factory to boost emergency production of ventilators to treat severely ill COVID-19 patients.

Ventec, in a partnership with General Motors, began operations in the GM Components Holdings plant in April, hiring local employees to make 30,000 ventilators.

The Department of Health and Human Services contracted with General Motors to build the ventilators at a converted auto electronics plant in Kokomo at a cost of $489.4 million.

Vice President Mike Pence visited General Motors' Kokomo plant where the automaker, in partnership with medical device-maker Ventec, is producing 30,000 ventilators to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

General Motors in Kokomo is hiring for more than 1,000 full- and part-time workers in Kokomo to help it meet demand for medical ventilators during the coronavirus outbreak.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development will host a virtual job fair on May 6 to detail requirements, benefits and safety protocols at the facility.

In March, General Motors began working with Seattle-area ventilator maker Ventec Life Systems to increase the company's production. A short time later the automaker began lining up parts suppliers and retooling an electronics factory in Kokomo to build the devices.

Iowa is among the states with the fewest COVID-19 cases, but it still has more than 300 confirmed cases and the total increases every day. The state's hospitals, large and small, face a common problem as they get ready for a possible spike in patients: finding enough equipment.

U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) shared medical equipment data during a video conference Monday that the state has been unwilling to share.

Family and Social Services Administration Secretary Dr. Jennifer Sullivan says Indiana has 1,940 ICU beds and the states goal is to double that amount.