Southerland Manufactures Medical-grade Mattresses for COVID-19 Field Hospitals

April 28, 2020  by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry   

The company is also manufacturing 5,000 pillow covers for use by PureCare in helping outfit medical teams with pillows designed specifically for hospital and care facility use.

Southerland’s transition to making medical mattresses at its home factory in Nashville aids in the fulfilling a shortfall in beds to treat people and keeps the company’s workforce employed. The 100 people in the factory are working staggered production shifts to keep up with demand, and drivers with Southerland Transport are delivering the mattresses to needed facilities. In its Phoenix facility, 40 employees are making the covers for specially designed pillows being made by PureCare using its new state-of-the-art Brighi Tech Innovations pillow manufacturing system. The pillows will be offered to hospitals, care facilities, states and municipalities throughout the continental United States.

“We find ourselves in unprecedented times with this medical crisis, and we were eager to use the talent and resources of our organization to help fulfill the dire need of our emergency management organizations,” said Bryan Smith, president and chief executive officer of Southerland. “With our strategically placed manufacturing facilities, we are able to supply and deliver the mattresses efficiently to where they are most needed.”

TEMA is the state’s emergency management agency that is helping to coordinate supplies used in field hospitals being set up during the pandemic. Southerland is selling the mattresses to the government agency.

The all-foam, 8-inch mattresses are covered in a liquid-proof, polyester cover featuring anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties and are fire resistant. The cover can easily be cleaned and sanitized for reuse.