As members of the Commonwealth Dispensary Association start producing hand sanitizer to help Massachusetts hospitals combating COVID-19, Revolutionary Clinics has completed its first batch.

Revolutionary Clinics started producing hand sanitizer at its cultivation facility in Fitchburg and has made an initial batch of 35 gallons of sanitizer, to be donated to local hospitals on Monday, according to a statement. The company’s next batch is expected to be 80 to 90 gallons.

Cannabis operations are continuing as the cultivation facility produces the sanitizer. Revolutionary Clinics offers medical marijuana at three locations in Somerville and Cambridge.

“In a very difficult time for people across the globe, we felt it was incumbent upon us to step up and use our infrastructure and our know-how to support those who are on the front lines of fighting this pandemic, our health care workers,” said Keith Cooper, the CEO of Revolutionary Clinics.

Nurses and doctors have been treating COVID-19 patients and others while coping with a lack of protective equipment like face masks.

The Commonwealth Dispensary Association said earlier this week that board member John Hillier, the executive director of Central Ave Compassionate Care and founder and president of Gage Cannabis, brought up the idea of using marijuana companies’ equipment to produce sanitizer to donate.

Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel on Monday granted cannabis operators the authority to produce hand sanitizer for clinicians and health facilities.

In addition to Revolutionary Clinics, some of the dispensaries participating include INSA, Central Ave Compassionate Care, Inc., SIRA Naturals, New England Treatment Access, Theory Wellness, Garden Remedies, Triple M, Alternative Therapies Group, Inc., Berkshire Roots, Cultivate, NorthEast Alternatives, Patriot Care and Mass Wellspring.

"I am proud of a Fitchburg-based operation making a pivot from its usual activities to support the fight against COVID-19. Revolutionary Clinics is a prime example of how businesses can leverage their resources to help our communities tackle this pandemic together,” said Fitchburg Mayor Stephen L. DiNatale. “Efforts like this demonstrate the potential for good that exists when all members of the community band together to face these historic challenges.”

The production of hand sanitizer at Revolutionary Clinics is being carried out by employees Stephen Golden, Danielle Desmond, David Nunes, Ryan Corrazini and Evan Lambert under the supervision of lab manager and Vice President of Product Dan Gillan. The team is using protocols and standard operating procedures provided by members of the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association

Gillan estimates that the facility can produce upwards of 200 gallons of hand sanitizer per week that can be fully donated to hospitals, the statement said.

“Recognizing the massive and immediate demand for medical supplies, the biggest challenge for us was getting set up to start producing as quickly as possible so that we could get hand sanitizer to hospitals,” said Dan Gillan, vice president of Product at Revolutionary Clinics. “Securing the necessary raw ingredients required a couple of days and a couple hundred phone calls to suppliers. After accumulating what was needed, we converted our ethanol extraction laboratory from cannabis extraction to hand sanitizer production and created a sanitary work environment. Since our standard operational needs for cannabis extraction meant that we already had about 90 percent of what it took to produce hand sanitizer, it was a no brainer for us to take on this effort once we were given the go-ahead. The entire team is excited and humbled by the ability to step up and do this for our health care system during such a critical time.”

Meanwhile, Revolutionary Clinics announced earlier this month that it plans to donate two percent of all sales through April 20 to the Cambridge Mayor’s Disaster Relief Fund which was activated to support residents in Cambridge affected by COVID-19.

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