Primo Medical Group Supplies Local Communities with Face Masks

Company Designs and Manufactures PPE in One Week

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Apr 07, 2020, 10:44 ET

STOUGHTON, Mass., April 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stoughton, MA based Primo Medical Group is helping their local community by creating a solution to increase the supply of face masks. Two weeks ago, the company used their design and manufacturing resources to create an alternative form of personal protective equipment (PPE) to provide some level of protection to people who do not require or have access to N95 masks. The company designed and produced two types of masks in one week's time. One mask is cellulose based and the other utilizes a polypropylene filter sandwiched between paper layers.

Richard Rodgers, Vice President of Engineering R&D, delivering a box of masks to a local police department.

Cleanroom team members who volunteered extra time to manufacture and package Primo Medical Group’s ‘Better Than Nothing’ face masks.

Primo Medical Group's goal is to provide these improvised masks to their community to afford them a modest level of protection. Although they're not as effective as surgical or N95 masks, they still act as physical barriers against viral droplets. The company is supplying the masks to their local communities free of charge, and with the understanding that they are 'better than nothing.' Primo Medical Group has already donated over 3000 masks to local police and fire departments, clinics, food banks, and many other members of the community.

The company assembles the masks in a class 7 cleanroom, which is a controlled environment with low levels of pollutants such as dust, airborne microbes, aerosol particles, and chemical vapors. The masks are packaged 100 per box and the company hopes it can ultimately produce about 3,000 masks a week while maintaining its production of various other medical devices. "I'm completely blown away by how quickly our engineering and manufacturing teams turned an idea into a real product in one week," said company CEO, Steven Tallarida. Mr. Tallarida was especially proud of his cleanroom assemblers who offered to donate an extra hour each workday in order to increase the output of masks. "It says a lot about the ingenuity we have here and the generosity of our employees who really care about what we do," added Tallarida.

A grim reality being widely reported is that medical workers face a shortage of personal protective equipment on the front lines of their battle with the respiratory disease caused by this new coronavirus. People who do not need clinical grade PPE exacerbate the shortage with their panic-buying of N95 masks. This forces health care workers to reuse or improvise protective equipment, thereby increasing their own personal risk.

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommended the use of face coverings for everyone in public areas, especially when a minimum distance of six feet is not possible. In the midst of the present shortages of PPE for medical staff, in their own unique way Primo Medical Group eases deficiencies in their medical community.

About Primo Medical Group
Primo Medical Group offers the most comprehensive outsourcing solutions to the medical device market, including OEM product distribution services, engineering services, precision component production, finished goods assembly, medical device refurbishment, reusable surgical kit management and complete supply chain management. Established in 1953, Primo Medical Group is a privately held company with 4 facilities in Massachusetts. Primo Medical Group is an FDA Registered Contract Manufacturer and is compliant with FDA Quality Systems Regulations. Primo Medical Group is also ISO 13485:2016 certified, and is a registered manufacturer with the Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance. Over the past 20 years Primo Medical Group has incubated and co-funded several new technologies including Angiolink Corporation (acquired by Medtronic), Arthrosurface, Inc. (acquired by Anika Therepeudics), Spirus Medical, Inc. (acquired by Olympus), Cardiosolutions, Inc., Saphena Medical Inc., and Versago Vascular Access. The company will continue to pursue disruptive innovation in the medical device marketplace.

Contact:
Tony Resendes
Vice President of Marketing
Primo Medical Group
781.828-4400

SOURCE Primo Medical Group