TEHAMA COUNTY, Calif. -Health care workers in four counties will receive free reusable face shields donated by North Valley Community Foundation and Feather River Health Foundation due to a unique partnership that involved public health departments such as Chico State University and Idea Fab Labs.

It has been incredible to watch this come together, said David Little, executive vice president of NVCF. Everybody recognized a need for personal protective equipment for all health care workers, from doctors in emergency rooms to hygienists in dental offices. Then everyone worked to figure out how to make it happen.

The project started at Idea Fab Labs, a Chico Tech company when Enloe Medical Center requested face shields from Erin Banwell, the Idea Fab Labs director.

A team of professors joined Enloe Medical Center in creating a 3D printable frame that supports a clear plastic face shield.

The North Valley Community Foundation stepped in and offered funding for the face shields and included three surrounding counties which includes Butte, Glenn, and Colusa.

With an increasing demand for the face shields, Greg Watkins, chair of the universitys Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering and Sustainable Manufacturing, received permission from the university to begin producing the frames by using plastic injection molding machines in the engineering labs on campus.

This started as a volunteer effort from engineering faculty and students who wanted to help out, said Watkins. Everybody came together and put in a lot of hours to make this happen. Its gratifying to see our students apply their design and manufacturing education and utilize our campus facilities to help out the local medical community.

The Public Health Departments for all four counties said they conducted surveys to decide on a number of face shields needed for each county and the shields will be given to hospitals, doctors offices, urgent care clinics, dental offices, veterans clinics, student health centers and more.

NVCF and Feather River Health Foundation split the cost of plastic materials in order for the shields to be donated. NVCF and Feather River Health Foundation both have coronavirus relief funds and this month formed a partnership to combine resources. For more information on how to donate to NVCFs Coronavirus Rapid Response Fund, visithttps://www.nvcf.org/coronavirus-covid-19-rapid-response

The rest is here:

Health care workers in 4 counties to receive free face shields - Action News Now