With demand for medical products up 300 percent, Medline is ramping up efforts to acquire protective masks and hand sanitizers, according to WVUE FOX 8 News.
Five things to know:
1. Medline is bringing in ventilators and critical protective gear via air freight in an effort to fill orders.
2. The company is also "retooling" domestic manufacturing facilities to address shortages of hand sanitizer, Public Affairs Director Jesse Greenberg told Fox 8.
3. Medline operates one of the largest medical distribution facilities in the Covington, La., area and handles more than half a million medical products.
4. It plans to expand into a facility near Covington that is four times larger than its existing one, but the project is being challenged in court.
5. If the expansion comes to fruition, Medline plans to hire 400-plus workers on top of the 60 it already employs.