Rhoads Metal Works Creates a Negative Air Pressure Balance for the Hospitals

Rhoads Metal Works needed to search a path to adapt in COVID-19 pandemic. A lot of loyal customers from Rhoads Metal Works were forced to defer maintenance, pull their projects or shut down completely. The business really needed to respond fast to the crude reality of reducing revenues as well as the need to layoff a lot of employees to make sure the survival. Rhoads would have to adjust to the changing requirements of their customers.

The innovated response of Rhoads was got in the changing requirements of the healthcare customers. Rhoads Metal Works joined the front lines along with the healthcare workers to build an efficient solution to fight the COVID-19. The HVAC Supervisor at the Penn Medicine, Jerry Loehr from University of Pennsylvania Hospital, contacted the Rhoads with urgent assistance as they created new patient rooms to fight COVID-19. The isolation rooms needed a negative air pressure balance, but Rhoads had only a few days to deliver. The team at the Rhoads Metal Works needed to customize a portable unit with materials and equipment, which could be immediately obtained.

The design didn’t need to be complex for efficiency, and something that can be upgraded or modified for other hospitals. The team came as a group with the guidance from George Rossi at the General Aire Systems who helped the design. The Operations Coordinator at Rhoads, Matt Shinn, drew up the plan and guided the team to create and deliver a new Air Scrubber team to Penn Medicine within three days. Quickly, Penn put those units into operation to create better-equipped patient rooms to fight the pandemic.