Charlotte Hall Veterans Home is the fortunate recipient of a donation that will have a tremendous impact on the use/reuse and recycling of PPE. A group of Southern Maryland entrepreneurs and manufacturers teamed up to build a new dry heat oven to help health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The modular unit can heat and sterilize 24,000 masks per day. The sterilization process takes one hour and can also be used for clothing, mattresses and gowns.
The cost of the unit is around $150,000 and was donated to Charlotte Hall Veterans Home by St. Mary’s County Health Department via CARES funding.
Hogan released the following statement on Wednesday, January 27, 2021, “Wonderful news for Maryland veterans: Charlotte Hall Veterans Home has received a specialized PPE sterilization unit that was custom-built by Southern Maryland entrepreneurs and manufacturers and donated by the St. Mary’s County Health Department. The modular “Hot Box” unit can heat and sterilize 24,000 masks per day and will have a tremendous impact on the safe reutilization of PPE.”
In December of 2020, the “Hot Box” Officially titled the Semi-Automated Heat Bioburden Reduction Module, a 16-feet long, 8-feet wide, and 8-feet high “Hot Box” unit went to undergo FDA testing while in use at the University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center during the past eight months.
You can read our full article here.
About TechPort – TechPort, UAS Business Incubator and Community Innovation Hub of Southern Maryland, is a business incubator, think tank and the center of the Southern Maryland innovation zone. Located at St. Mary’s County Airport, TechPort began operations in April 2018 and is supported by the U.S. Navy, St. Mary’s County and the University of Maryland. Its mission is to grow the area’s economic base by accelerating innovation and assisting entrepreneurs to create and build new tech based companies. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and other autonomous systems are the primary focus of the incubator.
About SoMD Loves You – Southern Maryland Loves You is a non-profit organization, and is made up of about 100 people consisting of mostly engineers and a couple of medical professionals. The group was founded by Matt Hayes, an engineer, who recognized the need for alternative ways to produce and stretch high demand medical equipment. SoMd Loves You has been working hard to develop a “Heat Box” which sanitizes PPE equipment so that it can be reused over and over again. The Heat Box would greatly reduce medical plastic waste and provide short turnaround time in sanitizing a previously used medical mask.
- The Crisis
Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals are on the front lines battling the Coronavirus crisis. Due to an unprecedented demand, they are doing so without the PPE and other medical equipment they need which puts their own lives in jeopardy.
- Our Mission
Our mission is to support those on the front lines combating Covid-19 by providing funding and products to hospitals, EMS, and those developing other innovative solutions.
- Our Goal
No medical professional should have to go to work fearing for their life and for the lives of their family. Our goal is to eradicate this fear and help the medical professionals get the equipment they need to do their jobs safely.
Pictured in last picture L/R: Matt Hayes, Inventor of Heat Box, Executive Director, SoMD Loves You, Dr. Meenakshi Brewster, St. Mary’s County Health Officer, Russell Keogler, Administrator, Charlotte Hall Veterans Home, Sharon Murphy, Director, MDVA/CHVH, Zenae Merchant, Asst. Administrator, CHVH, Barbara Ives, Retired Navy Captain, President, SoMD Loves You, Rodney Jones, Deputy Director, MDVA/CHVH
