2 Central Coast companies are repairing defective face masks for hospital workers
Poor Richard’s Press transitioned from making signs to cloth face masks around the time shelter-at-home orders went into place — but defective N95 masks gave the San Luis Obispo business the opportunity to expand their services.
Now, they’re in the business of repairing faulty masks to help health care workers in need.
“We re-tooled things, if you will,” Todd Ventura, the owner of Poor Richard’s Press, said.
Ventura said he had asked Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria if it wanted any cloth face coverings. The hospital is part of Dignity Health Central Coast, which also operates Arroyo Grande Community Hospital and French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo.
Marian Regional Medical Center, a longtime Poor Richard’s Press customer, said it could not accept cloth masks but would keep his offer in mind.
As San Luis Obispo County’s shelter-at-home order took affect, Ventura said he had to furlough some of his employees to balance out the lost revenue. But he was able to hire back all of his furloughed employees when he received a call from Marian Regional Medical Center asking for help with defective masks.
The hospital had received about 175,000 N95 masks from the Santa Barbara County Health Department with defective elastic bands used to hold the masks in place, according to Ventura and Marian Regional Medical Center.
“They were perfectly great for medical use, except you couldn’t keep them on your head,” Ventura said.
Ventura and his staff produced several prototypes for the hospital and they found two that worked.
For each defective mask, Poor Richard’s Press employees remove the faulty elastic and either sew on a new elastic strap or punch holes into the mask and attach rubber band-like straps that connect at the back.
“It’s a very labor-intensive job. It’s not usually what we do,” Ventura said, adding, “Its very fulling to help the community.”
Another Central Coast company, Safran Seats Santa Maria, is also repairing the masks. The Santa Maria-based business normally makes seating equipment for airlines.
“I am very proud of our committed teams who are constantly giving back to the community in any way possible,” Klaus Koester, CEO of Safran Seats Santa Maria, said in a statement sent to The Tribune. “When we were approached by Marian Regional Medical Center to help, there was no hesitation.”
Koester said his team established a specific work area to repair the masks quickly and with the best quality possible.
The two companies have been repairing masks for more than a week already and return the masks as they go, according to a Dignity Health news release.
“As they have always done, our communities have rallied around us during the COVID-19 pandemic, showing their support in ways that we never could have expected,” Marian Regional Medical Center President and CEO Sue Andersen told The Tribune. “The generosity that continues to pour in to our facilities has been a huge sense of support.”
