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Hospitals are contending with shortages of the life-saving supplies after Hurricane Helene damaged operations at a key manufacturing plant in North Carolina.
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The American Hospital Association is calling on the Biden administration to help increase the supply of IV solutions for hospitals after Hurricane Helene disrupted operations at a key manufacturing plant last week.
In a letter penned Monday, the influential lobbying group said hospitals have reported “substantial shortages” of life-supporting IV products after a facility of medical supply company Baxter in Marion, North Carolina was forced to close in late September due to flooding from Helene.
The disruption has been substantial, according to the AHA — the plant produces 60% of the nation’s supply of IV solutions, or 1.5 million bags per day.
While Baxter is “actively working on remediation efforts,” the plant is still far from being operational. As of Monday, Baxter said it had regained electrical power, however, it remained two weeks out from communicating future production plans.
Meanwhile, the plant and other suppliers of IV solutions have stopped accepting new customers and have put current customers on “strict ordering allocations,” according to the AHA.
Hospitals ranging from North Carolina-based Duke University Hospital to far-flung facilities in California have reported shortages.
Last week, Mass General Brigham, for example, told Boston 25 News that it was receiving approximately 40% of its regular supply of IV fluids and had implemented conservation strategies to stretch its reduced supply.
“Patients across America are already feeling this impact, which will only deepen in the coming days and weeks unless much more is done to alleviate the situation and minimize the impact on patient care,” the AHA warned in its letter.
While facilities can implement conservation strategies, the AHA is urging the Biden administration to deploy a broad array of federal support to solve the crisis.
The group has asked the HHS to declare a public health emergency to allow waivers of Medicare and Medicaid rules and wants the Food and Drug Administration to declare a national shortage of IV solutions, which would extend solutions’ expiration dates and speed approval processes for finding international manufacturers.
The group also wants the Biden administration to leverage the Defense Production Act, which could allow other companies to produce the fluids and bags more quickly.
Requests for relief come as the nation’s southeast hospitals brace for what could be another dangerous storm. Hurricane Milton is set to make landfall on Wednesday.
Florida has declared a state of emergency for 51 counties, with Gov. Ron DeSantis mobilizing state resources to protect “critical infrastructure” including hospitals.
Emily Olsen