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The Trump administration has vacillated in its approach to spur ventilator production and distribution, first relying on private sector efforts alone and then prodding production via federal mandate powers. Lately, the administration has pushed more responsibility for securing supplies to the states.
The unprecedented demand for the breathing assistance machines has prompted a massive ramp-up in production. But the uneven spread of the disease across the country could leave some areas stretched beyond capacity while equipment is underutilized elsewhere.
Projected ventilator shortages prompted the American Hospital Association to spearhead an effort among healthcare systems to create an online inventory of the devices and related supplies such as tubing and filters aimed at facilitating lending to providers facing increased need in their regions. The ventilator exchange program is being organized in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose help in making allocation decisions was sought by AdvaMed.