Bluewater Health has purchased a machine that can sterilize 500 N95 masks an hour for reuse thanks to a donation from a St. Clair Township couple.
Lifelong Lambton County corn, soybean and wheat farmers, Bill and Heather Wray, gave the COVID-19 fund $40,000 to purchase a UV sterilizer machine.
67-year-old Bill Wray said staff at the hospital have saved his life twice.
"I've had health issues and if it wasn't for the system, I would not be alive," said Wray. "I just felt it was my time to give back."
Wray said he was in a car accident in his 30s and had another medical emergency in his 50s.
He said staff working the front lines during the pandemic need to be protected.
"I have a doctor friend and I called him and said I'd like to donate money, but it has to go to PPE [personal protective equipment], and then he called me back and said this machine was the best value for their money at the time."
He and his wife have two daughters, both are nurses, one works at CEE in Petrolia and the other at University Hospital in London.
Foundation Executive Director Kathy Alexander said the donation will have a major impact at Bluewater Health given the worldwide shortage of PPE and N95 masks.
The Terminator CoV, which uses a conveyor belt to feed the masks through it, can disinfect 500 N95 masks per hour.
It's made by Prescientx, a company located in Cambridge, Ontario.