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OAKLAND — Gov. Gavin Newsom and Tesla CEO Elon Musk appear to have a communication deficit over what critical equipment Musk is delivering to California hospitals fighting the coronavirus.
After praising Musk last month for committing to a “heroic effort” of supplying California with more than 1,000 ventilators, the Newsom administration tempered its enthusiasm in recent days by saying it did not know of any hospitals that had received the machines.
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The apparent slight prompted Musk — one of numerous Silicon Valley entrepreneurs with whom the governor has a long-standing relationship — to lash out at the media and implore Newsom in a tweet to “please fix this misunderstanding.” Musk shared screenshots that appeared to show a hospital executive and a Los Angeles County health department official confirming they’d received medical equipment.
When asked Thursday about the discrepancy, Newsom said he had not yet seen the information Musk shared on Twitter.
“I was not personally aware of that list,” Newsom said, adding that “I look forward to learning more about where they went and I’m grateful for his support.”
The governor did not specifically mention ventilators Thursday.
Later Thursday, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Director Christina Ghaly said in an emailed statement that Tesla had provided 100 bilevel positive airway pressure units in March — devices that can reduce “the need for certain patients to be placed on mechanical ventilation,” Ghaly said. The company also provided 200 gallons of hand sanitizer and 860 face shields.
“We are grateful to Tesla for their generous donation in support of patients with COVID-19,” Ghaly said.
But Ghaly, the spouse of top Newsom health official Mark Ghaly, offered no indication that Tesla provided ventilators. A Tesla representative did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment.
The Musk offering came in late March as California braced for a potential worst-case scenario in which the state would need tens of thousands of ventilators for patients. At that time, Newsom said the state was working with Virgin Orbit to create a low-cost ventilator prototype and looking at ways in which hospitals could place multiple patients on a single ventilator.
California’s infection curve has since turned for the better, with the state confident enough that it has sufficient ventilators that it sent 500 units to other states.
Musk also came under scrutiny this month around similar promises he made to deliver ventilators to hospitals in New York after a hospital posted a picture of machines purported to be ventilators, but turned out to be sleep apnea machines.
Newsom’s press office did not respond to multiple inquiries this week about the status of ventilator deliveries from Musk or Tesla.
Newsom "not personally aware" of Elon Musk ventilator deliveries after 1,000-plus promise
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