Looking to help meet the critical need for Personal Protective Equipment for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, global manufacturer Hollingsworth & Vose has, on a rapidly accelerated timeline, developed a new material for non-surgical medical gowns.

Using standard construction methods, this new material can be converted into medical gowns for healthcare workers in hospitals, nursing homes and other medical facilities. The material meets stringent testing standards including the AATCC 42 impact penetration and AATCC 127 hydrostatic pressure tests. Its origin stems from a COVID-19 related task force that H&V convened at the start of the pandemic to see how the company could expand production and help meet the shortage of medical grade PPE. H&V works across industries, including in medical, automotive, energy, power generation, and air quality.

“H&V had already been manufacturing critical materials used in the fight against COVID-19, including filtration media for N95 respirators, ventilator filtration media and the materials used in surgical hoods, so it made sense for us to see how else we might be able to meet the needs of healthcare workers on the frontlines,” says Jeff Crane, Segment Leader at H&V.

“Accelerating our research and development process, partnering with companies that provide third party testing and pulling expertise from different industries we serve allowed us to quickly develop this new material in just a matter of weeks and begin supplying it to gown manufacturers that are facing shortages due to the pandemic,” adds Crane.

Customers for the new material include a mix of existing H&V customers as well as new customers who are helping to meet demand for medical gowns. H&V is manufacturing the material entirely from its manufacturing facility in Easton, New York.

“We will continue putting our expertise in the manufacturing of advance materials to use for a wide range of applications while also doing everything we can to help those who are out there in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and elsewhere taking care of others,” comments Crane.