INFECTION PREVENTION


INFECTION PREVENTION


PPE, top to bottom


Shortages mask supply chain resiliance by Nancy Pasternack


Photo credit: Alessandro Biascioli | stock.adobe.com I


n late March, 2020, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) set out to pro- vide a picture of how supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) were meeting demand in the nation’s hospitals. To that end, they conducted a survey. Though the onslaught of SARS-CoV-2 cases was barely underway in the U.S., infection prevention specialists reported that their facilities were battling dire shortages.


“Nearly half of U.S. healthcare facilities surveyed are already out of, or almost out of respirators to use in caring for a patient with COVID-19,” reads an APIC March 27 press release. “Lack of N-95s, masks, face shields threaten health workers in facili- ties in every state, in every size facility.” Pleas went out for Emergency Use Authorizations to be granted for use of non-traditional PPE sources, and for the reuse of masks and other PPE. “Like so many companies, we struggled to get product from previously reliable suppliers,” said Ralph J. Basile, Vice President of Marketing for Healthmark Industries Company Inc. “Where we could, we altered our supply chain, including utilizing domestic sources of product – and we began manufacturing more in-house in order to better control supply and meet the increase in demand.”


Healthmark wasn’t the only company struggling to keep up.


“During COVID-19, the PPE indus- try has faced unprecedented surges in demand, port delays, raw mate- rial shortages, capacity constraints, labor shortages and manufacturing shutdowns,” said Asilinn La Brie, RN, BSN, MBA, Senior Consultant in Business and Clinical Optimization at Cardinal Health. Cardinal had to remain  eible in its supply chain and sourcing approach, La Brie said, “but we were committed to only sourcing direct from reputable manufacturers and our own manufactur- ing network.” Heather Mallinckrodt, Associate Vice President of Contract and Program Services at Vizient said the shortage was an equal-opportunity challenge. “The magnitude of the pandemic – I don’t think anyone was fully prepared for that,” she said “The entire U.S. was struggling to get product.” Unprecedented times, however, “require unprecedented speed and results.” The company demonstrated an ability to respond rapidly to provider needs, Mallinckrodt said.


“The broken supply chain is our most frustrating challenge,” said Melanie Miller, Vice President and Chief Strategy


18 December 2021 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • hpnonline.com


Offi cer for Silver ining pparel, which makes reusable isolation gowns. But, she said, we became nimble and fleible and learned along the way to ensure that our product met care practice needs and eceeded epectations. As the even-more virulent Delta vari-


ant surged and eventually waned, many on the front lines of the pandemic have been able to imagine light at the end of the tunnel. But work at the companies that make, sell, buy and deliver infection protection products is only beginning. Strategic plans designed today, after all, may be heading into against a dramati- cally changed supply chain landscape. n the meantime, eecutives say, they


must prepare for the net supply chain curveball.


Adjusting one’s stance When reflecting on 20 -plus months of supply uncertainty – and lessons to take away moving forward – the themes epressed across the industry are simi- lar: More diversity must be built into a company’s lineup of PPE manufacturers, with an emphasis on production closer to home; More visibility and transparency must be built into the system so that clients and other stakeholders can track product and share information. And in order to be successful in the supply chain


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