Paulding Chamber Partners with Local Community to Assist in Alleviating Medical Supply Shortage

(Paulding County, GA) April 14, 2020 - The Paulding Chamber of Commerce announces a community partnership to provide face shields to medical personnel at Wellstar Paulding Hospital during the COVID- 19 pandemic.
Chamber President, Stacy Hamby, was informed of the need after a conversation with hospital executives late last week. After learning that the hospital’s suppliers may have difficulty meeting the high demand for face shields across the country, a community outreach initiative was implemented to find alternative vendors for the local hospital. The Chamber consulted with the Wellstar Foundation and local experts and discovered that the masks could be manufactured with 3D printers, many of which were sitting idle during the economic shutdown.
“Knowing our community, I felt right away that this was a chance for all of us to come together and meet a common need”, Hamby noted. “Paulding has been so good through all this in their desire to help. This gave many a chance to not only help financially but to be able to put their hands on something tangible that meets a direct need in the county”.
Through a loan program with the Paulding County School District, the Chamber was able to borrow several 3D printers to manufacture the components of the face shields. The supplies and more printers were provided through substantial donations from chamber members. Under the guidance of Robert Crouse, Crouse Consulting, within one day, the downstairs meeting space at the Paulding Chamber was transformed into an assembly line and is working towards the capacity to produce approximately 250 masks per day. The assembly line is being staffed by Chamber staff, as well as dozens of volunteers who are assigned shifts to ensure safe social distancing.
“It truly is a coordinated effort between the Chamber, members, committee members, business partners, sponsors, volunteers in the community and Wellstar,” says Hamby.
With the immediate need being 2,500 masks, the Chamber is optimistic that it will be able to meet that need within the next couple of weeks. The first delivery of 115 masks was made to Wellstar on Monday.
For more information on supporting Wellstar Paulding Hospital or any of Wellstar Health System’s not-for-profit hospitals, visit the Wellstar Foundation online.
If you would like to volunteer to help or make a donation, please email