The federal government needed to act as a facilitator, connecting manufacturers with ventilator companies or other experts in medical device manufacturing. Wit

The federal government needed to act as a facilitator, connecting manufacturers with ventilator companies or other experts in medical device manufacturing. With the supply chains broken, work could have started to bring up new domestic part manufacturers. If all medical device manufacturing was prioritized, lead times would probably shorten to weeks, not months. This is happening by industry already, but again the federal government's facilitator role could definitely speed it up. Even in a crisis, there are business interests that need to be looked after. A company can't simply decide to stop making parts for its customers and shift to making medical device parts. It would probably soon run out of money and not be able to pay its workers. Here the federal government could eliminate business risk by giving out loans/grants for retooling and guaranteeing the purchase of parts that are made.