Rising to the Challenge: GE Employees Mobilize to Fight COVID-19

This week, GE turned 128 years old. When you look back at our history, there are countless stories of resiliency and innovative contributions where our people have helped move the world forward. From helping to electrify the world and producing the first jet engine in the U.S. to supporting the troops during World War II – GE has always stepped up in key moments in history.

Since the first day I walked through the door at GE, I’ve been impressed by the grit and resilience of our more than 200,000 employees. But few things in life have inspired me as much as watching our workers rise to the challenges now facing our world. 

GE is responsible for one-third of the world’s electricity. We help doctors and families in moments that matter. Planes with our engines fly to every corner of the globe. Our people deliver consistently not in spite of difficulties, but because of them. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we are focused, more than anything, on keeping our employees safe. We’re encouraging as many people as possible to work from home. But given the mission-critical work we do at GE, not everyone can stay home. For the employees out in the field helping essential services like hospitals, electricity grids and water utilities, we’re making sure they have all they need to do their job safely.

Rolling up our Sleeves

Take, for example, the team at our Madison, Wisconsin, ventilator factory who are working in three shifts around the clock to produce much-needed breathing equipment for patients. Tutku G?vsa, a computer scientist, is one of 100 GE employees and retirees who have moved from office jobs to the factory floor to help speed production. When asked about his decision to volunteer, G?vsa said, “There is an urgency not only for the company, but for the entire world.” 

Tyler Vermey, known around GE Healthcare as the "valve guru" for his expertise on the vital components that regulate the oxygen and airflow on ventilators, also answered the call to help. He drove through a snowstorm 1,400 miles from Utah to Wisconsin to work the night shift. Jimmy Beacham, chief engineer for advanced manufacturing at GE Healthcare, is now living in a hotel and working on new ways 3D printing can help suppliers ramp up production. 

We’re seeing that kind of common purpose across the businesses. In Pensacola, Florida, Caroline Shaw, a sourcing manager at GE Renewable Energy’s wind turbine factory, is using 3D printing to make protective shields to help extend the life of N95 masks. Josh Mook, an innovation executive at GE Additive in Cincinnati, is part of a team 3D printing parts that make it possible to assemble personal protective equipment for clinicians from off-the-shelf hard hats and visors. They delivered their first shields to TriHealth, one of the key healthcare providers in greater Cincinnati, a few weeks ago. 

Delivering for our Customers 

In Oregon, Jeff Terry, chief executive of GE Healthcare’s clinical command centers, and his team are working with hospitals to use artificial intelligence to maximize lifesaving resources such as ICUs, ventilators and negative pressure beds. “It is constantly connecting the dots, alerting to risks and making suggestions where the system can create capacity,” Terry says. 

And we have managers helping clinicians globally on the front lines. Antonio Spera, the head of GE Healthcare in Italy, has been working with a team of 200 GE engineers and technicians to make sure doctors and nurses have diagnostic tools needed to help patients in their hospitals. From their kitchens, Antonio and his team have been securely checking on imaging systems and virtually training medical staff on new equipment. 

Beyond COVID-19, we continue to work to deliver critical infrastructure across our industries.

In the Middle East, Ibrahim Zein, service manager for Qatar and Oman at FieldCore, has been working with a team of engineers in Kuwait who, unable to return to their home countries due to government-directed travel restrictions, have completed nearly 7,000 combined hours of work for our customers beyond the job that they originally traveled there to do in February. 

GE Aviation powers two-thirds of the military aircraft around the world. Each day, our GE Aviation employees are working hard to produce engines and components and provide essential support and maintenance to our military customers. We’re proud of this work as hundreds of military aircraft around the world are in the air daily to assist in critical areas needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answering the Call

There is no other company in the world that delivers what we do. No other group of employees that repeatedly rises to the challenge to develop technologies that are fundamental to the world. This is what we signed up for. This is what we are capable of. And, at this moment in time, when the world is facing the worst pandemic in a century, it is what the world is asking of us again. It is asking us to continue to deliver our vital healthcare equipment, keep the power on, and fly supplies where they are needed most. It is asking for GE, and we will continue to answer the call.