Sloan, a leading manufacturer of commercial plumbing systems, has provided its touch-free restroom products to support the conversion of Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center and Yale University’s Payne Whitney Gym into temporary field hospitals — or COVID-19 Care Centers — due to the overflow of patients.
“At Sloan, we understand that the touch-free products we manufacture across the entire commercial restroom play an essential role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Graham Allen, Sloan Co-President and CEO. “We are proud to support those in our backyard of Chicago, Yale University, and anyone in need across the country, and we will continue to do everything in our power to supply sensor-operated products.”
With 500 beds in makeshift rooms, plumbing requirements at McCormick Place called for over 200 Sloan sensor faucets in handwashing stations, and Sloan partnered with local customers to deliver these hygiene-friendly solutions. The Army Corps of Engineers plans to build an additional 2,500 beds throughout the facility’s 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space in the coming weeks.
In New Haven, CT, Yale’s Payne Whitney Gym was also converted to a temporary field hospital and needed to retrofit its existing manual faucets and flushometers to provide a more sanitary environment for the influx of patients. The facility removed its existing faucets and replaced them with Sloan sensor-operated faucets, while also installing new Sloan sensor flushometers to provide a touch-free experience.
Sloan Response To COVID-19 At Its Facilities
Earlier this month, Graham Allen, Sloan’s Co-President and CEO, shared insight into the company’s earlier response to the COVID-19 crisis:
Any product that eliminates or reduces the number of surfaces the user has to touch is now of the utmost importance, and COVID-19’s rapid uptick has accelerated the need for these touch-free products. While there has already been an increased demand for sensor-operated products, that need will only continue to grow. As the total restroom solution, Sloan is proud to facilitate these needs with sensor-based, touch-free products throughout the entire restroom, including sinks, handwashing stations, faucets, flushometers, soap dispensers, and hand dryers.
At Sloan, we’re proud of our 114-year history as a leading manufacturer of commercial plumbing products that promote hygiene, sanitation, and user-accessibility in the restroom. That’s why we understand it’s the products we develop and distribute that play an essential role in the fight against this pandemic.
Our products are part of the touch-free solution to the challenge COVID-19 brings as it spreads often through touch. In healthcare, public, and other commercial facilities where hygiene and sanitation are of primary concern, we are working around the clock to uphold our duty to help with this global effort. We are providing thousands of faucets and lavatories for the critical healthcare facilities across the country.
During the temporary suspension in our manufacturing facilities which occurred from March 20 to April 5, when plant employees were given two weeks paid time off, volunteer employees continued working in an effort to ship critical orders to those who relied on our products and services now more than ever. With the plumbing industry now deemed as an “essential” business by the United States government, Sloan manufacturing plants resumed full operation on April 6.
Sloan’s top priority throughout this entire process has been the safety of our employees, customers, and partners. While all office employees are working remotely, Sloan employees have had continued access to our on-site Sloan Family Health Clinic, should any employee report exposure or symptoms on-site.
Sloan has been a leader in commercial restroom innovation ever since William Elvis Sloan ushered in the modern plumbing era with the Royal® Flushometer in 1906. In the century that has passed, Sloan has continued to provide leadership at every level during the world’s most trying times. When the U.S. was pulled into WWII, Sloan answered the call by reconfiguring our manufacturing process to produce brass artillery components critical to the war effort, as well as providing our specialized ship-borne valves for the maritime advance. Now, as the world turns to the manufacturing industry to support public health, Sloan is there once more to help preserve the health of the global community. We remain steadfast in our efforts to help the world overcome these trying times.
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