Walls for hogs redesigned to keep COVID-19 at bay in ERs

Walls that separate hogs help keep COVID-19 at bay A Palmerston company is helping to keep COVID-19 under control at hospitals and long-term care homes. CTV London's Scott Miller reports

Wingham, Ont. — A Palmerston company that makes walls to separate hogs in pig barns, is playing a big part in keeping COVID-19 at bay in emergency rooms and long term care homes across Canada.

Five weeks ago, Trusscore’s braintrust sat down to talk about how they could help out Ontario as it dealt with COVID-19.

They came up with a plan to retrofit their portable wall panels, typically used in pig barns, to work for humans, called TempWall.

"Hogs are obviously heavier and shorter than humans, so with these TempWall’s we’ve bound together a 60-inch by 80-inch wall section that can be constructed like Legos, so you can make rooms like for field hospitals, or you can create isolation between chairs in an emergency room waiting room," says Dave Caputo, Trusscore’s CEO.

The temporary walls have taken off. They’re being used in the field hospitals in Hanover and Kincardine, as well as the field hospital at the Western Fair Agriplex in London.

"It started out donating them to a number of local hospitals and people we knew, friends, family, doctors, nurses. It quickly blew up into thousands of orders across the country. Hospitals in the beginning, but long-term care homes are really calling us a lot right now," says Steve Bosman, Trusscore’s president.

Trusscore can make as many as 400 TempWall’s a day, and estimate they’ve shipped out thousands across North America.

"As far away as B.C., Alberta, a lot to Quebec," says Caputo.

The company, of about 50 employees, has donated hundreds of their temporary walls, and are selling the rest at cost. They didn’t plan on creating a new market, but may have a new product to make for years to come.

"We’re happy and honoured to be able to help right now, but there might an ongoing requirement for this kind of product. We’ll see," says Caputo.