With most of its ventilators already attached to COVID-19 patients, a top New York hospital system is repurposing its anesthetics-dispensing devices and other equipment into makeshift breathing machines.
The Northwell hospital system that runs the Lenox Hill, Long Island Jewish and Staten Island University hospitals says 75 percent of its ventilators are already occupied — with the apex of the coronavirus crisis still weeks away.
“We’re converting 300 anesthesia machines into ventilators,” Northwell spokesman Terry Lynam told The Post.
He said 75 of the machines, used to sedate patients during surgery, have already been converted to ventilators to help COVID-19 patients breathe through intubation.
Northwell’s hospitals are also using 3D parts to repurpose 300 BIPAP [Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure] machines used to treat sleep apnea patients into ventilators.
“This will significantly increase our capacity,” Lynam said.
The scramble to repurpose other medical equipment into ventilators shows how worried hospital officials are of not having enough capacity to treat the most seriously ill COVID-19 patients — those with pre-existing respiratory ailments who have difficulty breathing as a result of the virus.
Gov. Cuomo has said New York could need as many as 30,000 ventilators when the number of COVID-patients peaks, and is urging President Trump and the federal government to deliver more of the critical breathing machines to the state.
The governor said the worldwide demand for ventilators has driven up the costs from $20,000 to $50,000 and it’s difficult for competing states to purchase them..
Mayor de Blasio on Monday said city hospitals will need an additional 400 hospitals to handle an influx of COVID-19 patients through the end of the week.
The ventilator crunch isn’t the only challenge.
Medical experts told The Post that New York may also have a shortage of licensed respiratory technicians who operate and monitor the ventilators.