Intuitive Foundation and Intuitive Surpass the 1 Million Face Shield Mark

The need for personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers continues to rise, and Intuitive Surgical and the Intuitive Foundation continue to work together to help meet the challenge.

By surpassing our goal of 1 million face shields produced and donated, the Intuitive Foundation continues to deliver on its pledge to help frontline healthcare workers battle the COVID-19 pandemic and continues its overall commitment to give back to communities in need.

The face shield project complements broader efforts to produce and distribute high quality improvised face masks in medical and extended care facilities (including thousands created by Intuitive Surgical employees in their homes), and to bring hospitals a protective barrier enclosure to help protect healthcare providers when intubating patients. These efforts further augment its financial support for health-related charities and health-related organizations around the world.

The donated PPE has gone to hospitals in France, Mexico and the U.S., including significant donations to the Navajo Nation and several other First Nation tribes which have been especially hard hit by COVID-19.

“Our focus is to help in the fight against COVID-19, and this current environment sets up an opportunity for our calling to be achieved by helping our community during this pandemic,” said Rodrigo Arzate, Mexicali Director of Operations for Intuitive Surgical. Arzate’s operations produced 50,000 face shields a day starting in May, and was instrumental in achieving the 1 million face shields mark.

Setting up the new face shield lines required quick and thoughtful actions by the Mexicali team. From converting a warehouse and production lines to accommodating more employee volunteers to maintaining extreme safety protocols to prevent virus transmission, the ongoing production reflects the heart of the Mexicali team and its commitment to giving healthcare workers the best shot at staying safe.

The Intuitive Foundation’s contributions won’t stop at reaching the 1 million face shields mark, as it will continue programs pivot to online content and funding research to help frontline healthcare workers.