Suffolk Window Supplier To Make Gowns For Stony Brook Hospital

STONY BROOK, NY — Reilly Windows & Doors, a Calverton-based window supplier, temporarily shifted to gowns to do its part during the new coronavirus outbreak. The company was asked for help by Stony Brook University Hospital after it manufactured 10,000 gowns for the hospital's affiliate, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, Benjamin Edwards, vice president of operations at Reilly Architectural told Patch.

The main Stony Brook University Hospital uses about 12,000 gowns per day, Edwards said he was told. While Reilly Windows & Doors isn't equipped to make that number on a daily basis, Edwards said he's hoping to get to at least half the amount made for doctors and nurses at the hospital.

The business' normal operations are halted due to the New York State PAUSE executive order, but the essential nature of the hospital's need allows the manufacturer to gather a small crew to make gowns, Edwards said. The company is running two shifts, screening employees before they return to work, practicing social distancing guidelines, using mandatory personal protective equipment and enforcing rigorous sanitizing schedules in order to protect employees' health and safety, Edwards said.

"We plan on keeping the effort going as long as there is still a need," he said.

Before receiving a request to help the primary hospital, Reilly Windows & Doors assisted the Southampton branch. The transition from windows and doors to gowns went smoothly, Whitney Klinkenborg, marketing director of Reilly Architectural, said.