Hospitals in Atlanta and throughout Georgia are feeling the pinch from storm damage and to a factory in North Carolina that produces much of the nation’s supply of intravenous (IV) fluids.
And that’s a problem because when patients need certain medications that are administered intravenously through sodium chloride solutions, the critical fluids are the safest and most effective tools at doctors’ disposal. With climate change promising to bring more intense storms to the Southeast, government and manufacturers hope a real-time risk-map can keep critical medical supplies flowing during weather disasters.
Last week, flooding triggered by Hurricane Helene damaged a Baxter International plant in North Cove, North Carolina. The factory produces an estimated 60% of the country’s supply of sterile intravenous fluids, as well as fluids used by some patients on home kidney dialysis. The hurricane-related supply disruption at the Baxter facility could lead to further constraints for IV fluids, the U.S. government said. It proposed alternatives until shipments can reach customers.
A second Florida IV factory and distribution center was temporarily closed this week when Hurricane Milton tore through the state. B. Braun Medical Inc. said it would provide more details later about its Daytona Beach factory. The company had said earlier it was shutting down the plant on Wednesday before the storm’s arrival and planned to restart production Friday morning.
At Emory Healthcare, pharmacy and clinical teams are developing contingency plans to minimize the impact of an overstretched supply chain to patient care. “We are also carefully managing the shipments we receive from Baxter and alternative vendors, as well as the supply we already have in our facilities,” spokeswoman Janet Christenbury said.
Wellstar is carefully managing its supply of IV fluids, said Matthew O’Connor, a spokesman at Wellstar.
Baxter has started limiting how much supply customers can order, a restriction designed to prevent stockpiling and keep access equal. Baxter also reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that several of their global plants are ramping up production to help meet U.S. needs.
Smaller Georgia hospitals stretch supplies
To save scarce IV supplies, the federal government is telling hospitals to administer certain drugs orally. “But it’s not ideal because many drugs we use are mixed with the IV solutions, and oral solutions don’t work for rehydration,” said Robin Rau, CEO of the Miller County Hospital Authority in Colquitt.
Rau said Miller County Hospital, a 25-bed, critical access hospital, orders IV supplies through a local pharmacy, which in turn acquires products from pharma distributor, Cardinal Health. When the hospital sought supplies directly from Baxter, Rau said they were turned down.
The hospital stocked up on IV materials before Hurricane Helene hit. “Our pharmacy director saw the path that Hurricane Helene would take, and placed an order for three-times the normal supply. So we have enough IV supply for 20 days,” Rau said.
Rau told the AJC last week that the shortage is only adding to the stress that rural healthcare providers are facing post Helene. Her hospital had provided supplies and food to Clinch Memorial Hospital, a 25-bed rural hospital in Homerville in Clinch County, that was severely damaged when Helene hit south central Georgia last week.
Barry Bloom, CEO of Jeff Davis Hospital, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Hazlehurst, Georgia, said his hospital was able to acquire IV supplies via third party vendors. “We are modifying some clinical practices as well for dehydrated patients and others,” Bloom said.
Changes needed to building resilient medical supply chains
Experts consulted by the AJC say medical systems in the Southeast need to brace themselves as increasingly severe and frequent weather events create disruptions in supply chains.
A possible solution could be a robust, real-time map of the stresses and climate vulnerabilities of the medical supply chain in the Southeast, said Pinar Keskinocak, professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech, and director of the Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems.
Under one proposal, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) could lead a mapping project with local officials, private sector decision makers, and civic leaders.
The maps would need to be updated regularly by everyone in the supply chain to remain timely and build resilience, Pinar said.
Last year, the American Hospital Association urged the U.S. Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to move forward with a bill to prepare for and rectify drug shortages, both during natural disasters and other supply chain disruptions.
That bill – known as MAPS, or Mapping America’s Pharmaceutical Supply Act – is currently winding its way through the Senate. In its current form, it tasks the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Defense with managing the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain map.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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