Ford Motor Company will partner with 3M and GE Healthcare to produce ventilators and respirators needed during the coronavirus outbreak, the company announced on Tuesday.

Ford "is lending its manufacturing and engineering expertise to quickly expand production of urgently needed medical equipment and supplies for healthcare workers, first responders and patients fighting coronavirus," the company said in a press release.

Ford will work with 3M to make "Powered Air-Purifying Respirators" with a "new design leveraging parts from both companies." The company will join forces with GE Healthcare to increase production on a simplified version of their ventilators and with several union workers to assemble plastic face shields and other personal protective equipment, according to the press release.

"By coming together across multiple industries, we can make a real difference for people in need and for those on the front lines of this crisis," Bill Ford, the company's executive chairman and the great-grandson of founder Henry Ford, said in a statement. "At Ford, we feel a deep obligation to step up and contribute in times of need, just as we always have through the 117-year history of our company."

"We're doing it on our own," Ford told NBC's "Today" show on Tuesday. "Obviously the White House has put a call out for companies to help, but frankly we were doing this, getting all this in motion before that. We're so happy to help and we're going to do absolutely everything we can ... We haven't talked to anybody about any kind of reimbursement or anything like that."

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