New Orleans-based Ochsner Health is opening two personal protective equipment manufacturing facilities this year in Louisiana, the health system said May 3.
Ochsner partnered with contractor Trax Development to create SafeSource Direct, which will manufacture, warehouse and distribute PPE for healthcare and other industries nationwide.
One facility will be in Lafayette Parish and the other will be in St. Martin Parish. The two facilities are expected to create more than 2,200 jobs. Nitrile rubber gloves will be the main product of the St. Martin Parish facility.
"A year ago, states across the union were grappling with a shortage of personal protective equipment as the coronavirus spread. Even now, the need for PPE is great, and that demand will continue for the foreseeable future. I am proud to say that, with this new project, Louisiana will play a key role in preventing the U.S. from facing such a shortage again," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a news release.
The facility in Lafayette Parish is expected to start commercial operations by the third quarter of this year. Ochsner didn't specify when the St. Martin Parish facility would be operational.
"Our hope is that these facilities will lay the foundation for more independently sustainable health systems in the U.S.," Justin Hollingsworth, CEO of SafeSource Direct said in the news release.
Read the full news release here.