- 20,000 free Face Shields will be donated to nine hospitals and medical facilities
- Resources normally used to make office furniture repurposed to make vital PPE
May 6, 2020, Houston, TX – In response to the continuing needs of medical services, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities, INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA is to donate enough Polypropylene polymer to make injection-molded headbands for 20,000 medical face shields.
The face shields will be designed by a Herman Miller Product Development Senior Engineer, and distributed by Herman Miller and Herman Miller Cares, its private foundation and corporate giving program. The Michigan-based company, known for its inventive designs, repurposed resources normally used for office furniture to make this vital piece of protective equipment for front-line workers using essential raw materials from INEOS.
”INEOS is grateful for the opportunity to join forces with our partners at Herman Miller to provide the much-needed polymer. Although we are starting to see the beginning stages of reopening for some states with decreased levels of COVID-19 infections, the need for these face shields continues to increase as previously postponed surgeries are rescheduled,” said Keisha Benjamin, INEOS Polypropylene Business Manager.
The first of the 20,000 face shields will be delivered by May 20th to Holland Hospital and Mercy Health, just days after completing all required tooling for the project.
For Clinical Nurse Leader of the Heart & Vascular department of Mercy Health Sara Simon, the donation of face shields is greatly appreciated. “This donation is a fantastic addition to the PPE that the hospital provides to our frontline colleagues. We appreciate the support and encouragement from our community donations as we all fight through this pandemic together,” said Ms. Simon.
In addition to Holland Hospital and Mercy Health, Desert Regional Medical Center (San Diego), Kaiser Glendale Medical Center (San Diego), CSI Crime Lab West Covina (San Diego), Mel Trotter Ministries (Grand Rapids), Detroit Receiving Hospital (Detroit), and North Ottawa Hospital (Grand Haven) will also receive donations in the near future.
Herman Miller Cares Foundation President and Executive Director Linda Brand added, “As we continue to evaluate requests that are coming in, more hospitals, medical facilities, and nonprofits will be added to this list. In the meantime, we are trying to best serve our community by giving priority to places that are otherwise unable to access supply chains effectively and that are directly engaged with COVID-19.”
Herman Miller Cares plans to distribute the face shields (at no charge to their partnered healthcare organizations) in kits that contain all the individual components. In addition, all components of the face shield are 100% recyclable and reusable, once cleaned after initial use.
Herman Miller will produce enough shields to facilitate the needs of their partnered organizations and stand ready for additional production should the need arise.
ENDS.
Included:
FaceShieldsInUse.jpg - Caption: “Frontline Nurses Sara Simon (left) and Deborah Anderson (right) of Mercy Healthy pose for a photo wearing their new face shields donated by Herman Miller/Herman Miller Cares and INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA.”
INEOS USA LLC, under the trade name INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA, and in conjunction with its various subsidiaries, is an major, integrated manufacturer of petrochemical products in North America, from upstream oil and gas production, to NGL fractionation, to olefins and polymers production, to downstream plastic pipe conversion, with production capacity of 9.6 billion pounds per year of olefins, polypropylene, and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) from five (5) manufacturing sites (including joint ventures), and 730 million pounds per year of HDPE pipe from eight (8) manufacturing sites. INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA has annual gross revenue of approximately $4.2 billion, employs 1,700 people, and is headquartered in League City, Texas. INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA is one of 34 businesses forming INEOS Group, a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, specialty chemicals, and oil products, with a production network spanning 183 manufacturing facilities in 26 countries, employing 22,000 people, and with annual gross revenue of approximately $60 billion. INEOS Group is an Anglo-Swiss conglomerate headquartered in London, United Kingdom, and Rolle, Switzerland. For more information, visit www.ineos.com/businesses/ineos-olefins-polymers-usa/.
Herman Miller is a globally recognized provider of furnishings and related technologies and services. Since its inception in 1905, the company has relied on innovative design to help people do great things. The global design leader has evolved into Herman Miller Group, a family of brands that collectively offers a variety of products for environments where people live, learn, work, and heal. The family of brands includes Colebrook Bosson Saunders, Design Within Reach, Geiger, HAY, Maars Living Walls, Maharam, naughtone, Nemschoff, and Herman Miller. For more information, visit www.hermanmiller.com/about-us.