“Thank you, President Biden” - Owens & Minor Welcomes President Biden Strategy on COVID Response

RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Edward Pesicka, President and CEO of Owens & Minor, a leading manufacturer of HALYARD* branded Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), welcomed the announcement from President Biden of the National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness.

“Thank you, President Biden,” said Pesicka. “When Americans mask up during this crucial phase in the pandemic, we want them to reach for a Made in America mask and other PPE whenever possible. Our 15,000 teammates have been working continuously throughout the pandemic to answer the call of our country. We welcome President Biden’s thoughtful and comprehensive approach to combating this pandemic and we look forward to working with the administration.”

As one of the world’s largest vertically integrated manufacturers of a full range of healthcare PPE, and a leading distributor of medical supplies, Owens & Minor delivered more than 12 billion PPE units in the United States in 2020. Owens & Minor owns and operates an Americas-based manufacturing footprint – manufacturing our own raw materials in North Carolina and converting that raw material into N95 respirators, isolation gowns, surgical gowns, ear loop masks and other PPE in its own plants in Texas, Mexico and Honduras. Owens & Minor is also one of the very few U.S. companies to manufacture nitrile gloves at large scale within its own factory in Southeast Asia. “We offer our large-scale manufacturing expertise to the administration,” added Pesicka.

In 2020, Owens & Minor made significant investments in capital, operational efficiency, rate of operation, and expanded its workforce to ramp up production and delivery of PPE. These investments were supplemented by a Technology Investment Agreement (TIA) from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

As a result of these combined efforts, Owens & Minor achieved:

• More than 1000% increase in N95 respirator production at three Americas locations
• Nearly 100% increase in surgical and procedure mask production
• More than 600% increase in face shields production
• A 300% increase in isolation gown production

Owens & Minor was also selected as one of five companies to work with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to produce approximately 600 million N95 respirator masks for the U.S. market.

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About Owens & Minor

Owens & Minor, Inc. (NYSE: OMI) is a global healthcare solutions company that incorporates product manufacturing, distribution support and innovative technology services to deliver significant and sustained value across the breadth of the industry – from acute care to patients in their home. Aligned to its Mission of Empowering Our Customers to Advance Healthcare^TM, more than 15,000 global teammates serve over 4,000 healthcare industry customers. A vertically-integrated, predominantly Americas-based footprint enables Owens & Minor to reliably supply its self-manufactured surgical and PPE products. This seamless value chain integrates with a portfolio of products representing 1,200 branded suppliers. Operating continuously since 1882 from its headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, Owens & Minor has grown into a FORTUNE 500 company with operations located across North America, Asia, Europe and Latin America. For more information about Owens & Minor, visit owens-minor.com, follow @Owens_Minor on Twitter and connect on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/owens-&-minor.