Hospitals and healthcare facilities across the United States could benefit.
San Jose, CA, June 18, 2020 — Today, the Silicon Valley COVID-19 Aid Coalition announced what is believed to be the first-of-its-kind in the U.S. product specification sheet for donations of the most urgently needed medical supplies and equipment to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the pandemic spread to the United States, one of the earliest signs of distress was in hospitals that relied on foreign supply chains. Everyone from private individuals to large companies stepped up to help fill the gap, but there was quick realization that donors did not know enough about what was needed, how to buy it, or how to make it, when the product was not readily available to buy.
This is where Silicon Valley companies rallied and stepped up.
Quickly recognizing the need for a comprehensive, coordinated response to combat COVID-19, the Leadership Group and its member companies partnered with the County of Santa Clara Health System to create the Silicon Valley COVID-19 Aid Coalition. Organized into four teams, the mission was to streamline and expedite the medical supply procurement process, so that frontline healthcare workers would have what they needed to effectively address this public health crisis.
“In just three months the Aid Coalition has raised more than $8.2 million to fight COVID-19 in Santa Clara County,” said Carl Guardino, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. “We hope that the collaborative and generous spirit of our tech companies will inspire and engage others seeking to make a difference and protect our frontline healthcare workers as we prepare to meet the County mandates for the long fight ahead and the potential second surge of cases.”
The COVID-19 product specification sheets are the work of the Aid Coalition’s Product Specifications Team led by former surgeon, Dr. Catherine Mohr, President of the Intuitive Foundation, the corporate Foundation of Intuitive. The team partnered with doctors and supply chain specialists at hospitals across Silicon Valley to ensure that the specific supplies and equipment that were produced could be used at hospitals and healthcare facilities in Santa Clara County, and potentially across the U.S. Other members of the team include:
Gaurav Arora, Vice President, Synaptics Inc.
Josie Ananto, Partner, EY
Diane Boesenberg, MS, Senior Managing Scientist, Exponent, Inc.
Paul Briant, PhD, Principal Engineer, Exponent, Inc.
Greg Browne, Director, R&D, Stryker Endoscopy
Torrance Carroll, Managing Partner, Operations and Investments, HACKFund
Jo Coffaro, Regional Vice President, Hospital Council of Northern & Central California
Jared Coffeen, Sr. Principal Engineer, Advanced Dev. Group, Stryker Endoscopy
Michael Elliott, COO, Valley Medical Center Foundation
Ameya Gokarn, Manager, EY
Robert Halbach, Director of Field Applications Engineering, Monolithic Power Systems
Manoj Kenkare, Managing Director, Accenture
Heather Kerr, Chief Scientific Officer, Alternative and Renewable Construction, LLC
Michael Kohler, Administrative Director, Procurement Operations and Strategy, Supply Chain, Stanford Health Care & Stanford Children’s Health
Ibi Krukrubo, Managing Partner, EY
Catherine Mohr, MD, MS, President, Intuitive Foundation
Jonathan Nelson, CEO, Hackers/Founders
Jessica Ngo, MD
Sean Patel, Senior Consultant, EY
Juliana Pedraza, Director of Investments & Innovation – South America, HACKFund
Michael Posson, MPH, CIH, Senior Managing Scientist, Exponent, Inc.
Sarai Ruiz, Executive Assistant, Hackers/Founders
Jeffrey Sung, MD, Chair of the Radiology Department, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
Soody Tronson, CEO, Presque & Managing Counsel, STLG Law Firm
Aruna Venkatesan MD, Hospital Liaison, Santa Clara County Emergency Operations Center
Chris Wilder, CEO, Valley Medical Center Foundation
“It was apparent to us that the COVID-19 Emergency Use Authorizations from the FDA allowing the use of many PPE items and equipment unfamiliar to hospitals was already causing a lot of confusion,” said Dr. Catherine Mohr, President of the Intuitive Foundation. “Add in the rapidly evolving patterns of supply shortages and infection hotspots, and we quickly realized that to meet the needs of our hospitals, we needed procurement to be as efficient and accurate as possible. In the time that it took to check if something would meet the needs of the requestor, it was often no longer available. We needed to streamline that process.”
The specifications for PPE, sanitizers, disinfectants, and ventilators allow those without a medical background to confidently make or procure the clinically appropriate medical supplies needed to be ready to combat the expected second wave of cases both locally and nationally. You can find links to these supplies here: https://vmcfoundation.org/aid/
The product specifications are only one part of the work that the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, its member companies, and the County of Santa Clara Health System, with support from the Valley Medical Center Foundation, have done to aid in the fight against COVID-19. Together, more than $8.2 million dollars has been raised to procure needed PPE and medical supplies for public, private and nonprofit hospitals and clinics throughout Santa Clara County.
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About Silicon Valley Leadership Group
The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, founded in 1978 by David Packard of Hewlett-Packard, represents more than 340 of Silicon Valley’s most respected employers on issues, programs and campaigns that affect the economic health and quality of life in Silicon Valley including education, energy, environment, health care, housing, tax policy, technology & innovation and transportation.
Contact: Pam Kelly, Sr. Mar Comm Manager
pkelly@svlg.org
(408) 483-2410
