Feds shore up healthcare supply chain in wake of hurricanes Helene and Milton
Hospitals had 50% more product available to them this past week as compared to the week prior, HHS says.
Photo: Bevan Goldswain/Getty Images
Two major hurricanes that struck the U.S. South over the past couple of weeks, Helene and Milton, have caused healthcare supply chain disruptions that have prompted the federal government to step in.
One major area the government is addressing is the shortage of IV fluids due to storm damage from Hurricane Helene at Baxter International's facility in North Carolina, which manufactures the widely used medical product.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the administration's actions to date include ensuring restoration of key production sites, protecting products and opening imports in partnership with manufacturers, distributors, hospitals and other stakeholders.
Hospitals had 50% more product available to them this past week as compared to the week prior, HHS said, and access is expected to continue to increase.
The move comes days after the American Hospital Association urged immediate action to increase the supply of IV solutions for hospitals and other providers. The AHA focused on the Baxter facility specifically, calling the facility "a critical supplier of intravenous (IV) and peritoneal dialysis solutions, producing approximately 60% – or 1.5 million bags – of the IV solutions used every day in the U.S."
Despite extensive water damage to the site, Baxter said last week that it has resumed shipments to hospitals and dialysis patients after the temporary hold. Baxter said several of its global plants are scaling and ramping up production to help meet U.S. needs, with the expectation to receive product from these sources throughout the month of October.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT?
In the hours after the hurricane, the federal officials immediately began assessing damage to Baxter's North Cove facility, said HHS. Three bridges to the facility were heavily damaged by Helene, and ASPR and FEMA worked with Baxter to regain access to the plant and engage in recovery efforts.
Much of the inventory in the North Carolina plant has been saved, and Baxter began moving truckloads of product out of the damaged facility on Sunday, October 6.
Baxter wasn't the only facility impacted. One manufacturer, B. Braun, has a manufacturing facility in Daytona, Florida, and ASPR has worked to move 60 truckloads of IV fluids out of the Daytona plant, ensuring it was safe from Hurricane Milton.
According to HHS, last week hospital allocation increased from 40% to 60% and distributor allocations increased from as low as 10% to 60%.
The feds have taken other steps to shore up the U.S. supply chain. As of October 9, the FDA announced the temporary importation of 19 different IV solution and dialysis products from five different international manufacturing plans to bolster domestic supply. ASPR is supporting efforts to airlift new product into the U.S., and, on October 11, the FDA released guidance providing new flexibilities related to compounding of IV solutions. This guidance will also make it easier for hospitals and other facilities to make their own IV solutions during the shortage, HHS said.
The agency also said it's working with manufacturers in the U.S. and around the world to increase their production capacity, with the FDA expediting regulatory reviews and ASPR providing technical assistance. The FDA will also expedite consideration of any shelf-life extension requests manufacturers submit for short-dated products.
HHS has invoked the Defense Production Act to help Baxter obtain materials needed to clean and rebuild the facility, and ASPR continues to actively pursue additional opportunities to invoke DPA authorities, HHS said. About 2,000 people are in the North Cove facility helping to clean up and restore production lines.
Baxter expects to restart North Cove production in phases and further increase allocations of certain intravenous solution product codes to customers to 90%-100% by the end of the year.
THE LARGER TREND
Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on September 26 and traveled inland, inundating parts of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. Hundreds have died, including at least two people at a Tennessee plastics plant who were swept away in floodwaters as they tried to leave the facility, the Associated Press reported.
Updates on storm response efforts in North Carolina can be found on Baxter's website.
Jeff Lagasse is editor of Healthcare Finance News.
Email: jlagasse@himss.org
Healthcare Finance News is a HIMSS Media publication.
