Flat-pack startup Jupe has unveiled the "world's first standalone intensive care unit" and several other pop-up care facilities to help hospitals under pressure due to coronavirus.
Jupe, which was founded by entrepreneur ?Jeff Wilson? and investment banker Cameron Blizzard to provide housing to displaced people, announced yesterday it was pivoting services in response to the pandemic.
Wilson and Blizzard teamed up with health advocate and physician ?Esther Choo and humanitarian designer ?Cameron Sinclair? to develop the new arm called Jupe Health. It has created three care facilities that can be flat-packed and rapidly deployed to hospitals in the US.
Jupe said that it could deploy 24 of the flat-packed units on a heavy-duty pick-up truck "Hospitals can't tackle it all rapidly enough, even once the federal government's aid package kicks in," said Choo.
"The health system has many overlapping needs right now, and cannot function well without all the pieces in place," she continued. "We're working to plug one of the more complex gaps."
Jupe Care is an off-grid recovery unit designed for patients that aren't critical
The facilities include Jupe Plus, a "light" intensive care unit (ICU); Jupe Care, an off-grid recovery unit for patients who aren't critical; and the Jupe Rest area that provides beds for medical professionals.
Jupe said it could deploy 24 of the flat-packed units on a heavy-duty pick-up truck with a 40-foot (12-me...