Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk implored California’s governor to clear up a “misunderstanding.”
Musk had promised to deliver 1,000 ventilators to California hospitals, but Gov. Gavin Newsom told members of the press that they never showed up. Musk said he had a list of specific hospitals where the medical equipment had been delivered, and CNN reached out to the facilities for more detail.
Of the hospitals who responded, all had received donations from Musk, but none had received ventilators. Some hospitals received bilevel positive airway pressure (biPAP) machines, which can aid breathing; still others received CPAP machines designed to support people with sleep apnea.
While ventilators cost tens of thousands of dollars, biPAP and CPAP machines are much less expensive.
That said, biPAPs are useful in providing breathing and airway support and are reportedly reducing the need for some patients to be placed on a mechanical ventilator.