Peters, Slotkin Join Army Secretary in Visit to Taylor Armory, FEMA Field Hospital at TCF Center in Detroit

DETROIT, MI – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today joined Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy and U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin (MI-08) for a tour of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) new field hospital at the TCF Center in Detroit. During the visit, Peters discussed with Secretary McCarthy and Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, General Joseph Martin – a Michigan native – the importance of continuing to coordinate with federal, state and local officials on Coronavirus response efforts across Michigan.

“As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I am working closely with federal and state partners to ensure that Michigan has the resources needed to care for Coronavirus patients across our state,” said Senator Peters. “The Army and the Michigan National Guard are playing a critical role working alongside the State of Michigan and the Army Corps of Engineers to utilize the TCF Center. I commend all of our federal, state and local partners for working so diligently to pull together this massive project in such a short time period."

“It was great to show Secretary McCarthy how our entire state has pulled together in this crisis, including the tremendous contributions of the Michigan National Guard. Together, we visited the TCF Center and the Taylor Armory, where we saw the tremendous capability of Michigan Tech’s Mobile Thermal Utility Sanitizer, which has the potential to decontaminate up to 80,000 masks per day. I’m proud to be working with Senator Peters and other members of the Michigan delegation on getting FDA approval for this promising technology –– and we can now count the Secretary of the Army as a supporter,” said Slotkin. “Frontline workers at TCF Center and across our state are putting their country’s safety ahead of their own. They are protecting us in the face of incredible difficulty and personal risks and I am proud that we were able to show Secretary McCarthy what Michigan is all about.”

To download a high-resolution photo or for additional photos from today’s tour click here.

Peters and Slotkin additionally joined Secretary McCarthy for a visit to the Taylor Armory. While there, the group viewed a sanitization trailer developed by Michigan Technological University (MTU) to decontaminate personal protective equipment for reuse. The trailer – called the Mobile Thermal Utility Sanitizer, which would be operated by the Michigan National Guard – is still awaiting approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Peters underscored with Secretary McCarthy why it is critical that the FDA swiftly approve MTU’s application so that more front line health care professionals can safely reuse the masks, gloves and other equipment vital to keeping them safe.

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