Manufacturing company forced to lay-off employees finds relief helping Nacogdoches hospital

NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KTRE) - A motorhome manufacturing company, which was forced to lay-off employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, has found some purpose helping a Nacogdoches hospital during the crisis.

Foretravel Motorcoach was forced to lay-off around 150 workers due to the constraints caused by the pandemic.

The company’s vice president of manufacturing said he was later approached by Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital to put some of their machinery to use for other purposes.

“We were contacted by [Nacogdoches] Memorial Hospital, and they had a need,” said Drew Pierce. “They needed a partition made for the cardiac center to separate the patients. And I said I’ve got the perfect product for you.”

The hospital needed a material that was easy to clean and disinfect. Pierce said he pitched the idea of using the company’s laminating machines, typically used to make walls and roofs for RVs, to make the partitions.

Pierce said before the hospital called with the issue, he would have never thought Foretravel had a solution.

“It really didn’t. We’d been brainstorming, because we’re in a time where things are changing, obviously slowing down here," Pierce said. “And so, we began thinking what can we do."

Not only will the laminated partitions help Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital, but turning those machines back on brought back a number of employees who were out of work otherwise.

Pierce hopes the partnership will serve as a reminder to other facilities who have a need during the crisis.

“Foretravel wanted to reach out and do what they could to make contacts within the community, within the state... to help one another, but also bring some of our employees back,” he added.

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