In recent months, due to shortages, it has become complicated to provide hospitals with a full set of necessary necessities.

In recent months, due to shortages, it has become complicated to provide hospitals with a full set of necessary necessities.

Unlike in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was difficult to find disposable gloves, masks and protective clothing (called personal protective equipment), and now there is a lack of different things. And, to complicate things, it changes every day.

"We now find that on any given day, it is a different product and there will be interruptions. Melanie Fisher, senior vice president of supply chain at Beaumont Health, said that this is actually an attempt to gain proactive information and visibility into the entire supply chain so that we can try to predict what might happen.

"So there are different products on different days. Aluminum crutches have always been a problem for many people across the country.... Cold bags have been a problem this week, and foam cups have always been a problem. It does cover all areas where we interrupted, "Fisher said.

Hospital officials in southeastern Michigan agreed. They wake up every morning to find a potential new shortage. However, with their shrewdness in finding different suppliers, planning ahead and solving problems, patients were not affected.

"Different projects have different effects on us in different weeks. I think there are two items that are crutches, and a large part of them is related to the magnesium used to harden the large amount of aluminum in the crutches. This raw material has been in short supply internationally. We have actually done it-we received a considerable amount next week. Bill Moir, senior vice president of supply chain management at Henry Ford Health System, said that we did not experience any interruption in care due to this.

"The other item we saw this week was suction cups and linings, but in recent memory, we have never encountered a situation that cannot be replaced with alternative products," Moore said, explaining that suction cups are used in hospital rooms. Dispose of infectious medical waste.

“Due to this pandemic, there is really no product that is not affected by the supply chain. Pontiac’s St. Joseph Mercy Senior Vice President of Operations Frank Sawyer said that from the basic elements of food-applesauce, pudding, jelly, fork , Spoons, bowls-to more important medical supplies to construction supplies, everything. "When I say challenges, it does not mean that we cannot meet the challenges, but I define challenges as pre-pandemic systems and processes to obtain What we need to work in this way is different now after the pandemic. So we must solve the problem and seek different channels to get what we need. In general, we can always get what we need; it may require more work. ''

At McLaren Oakland in Pontiac, they saw all the supplier’s problems.

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"Our suppliers have no employees. Healthcare — we closed down due to a shortage of bedside care — many supplier companies that produce wheelchairs and durable medical supplies — they also have a shortage of employees, which means that their production has been cut. Now," Diamond explained

The shortage of building materials slowed the process of rebuilding the laboratory in the basement of St. Joe's Hospital, where all the hospital laboratory tests were completed.

"From the steel pipes for the pipes to the wood used for case work, testing, chairs, vinyl flooring, everything is affected. You have to have very good procurement staff who can find alternative products to keep the project going," Sawyer said . "From a time point of view, the worst-case scenario is that these projects have been delayed, but they are also moving towards completion."

Construction issues have also delayed the construction of the new McLaren plant in Oxford.

"We are trying to build a brand new clinic in our Oxford base. We have an old building there. The supply of each building will be delayed by 6 to 8 months. We should break ground and start construction in the spring, we may Construction will start next spring," Diamond said.

All hospitals have learned their lesson from the shortage of personal protective equipment that occurred at the beginning of the COVID pandemic in March 2020.

More said: "So far, we have planned a lot in advance-especially our personal protective equipment-at Henry Ford, our supply of personal protective equipment is very healthy, as we all know, this is what everyone learns in the pandemic. "I think what we see internationally is a potential supply chain shortage. People didn’t expect this to be due to shortages of raw materials, labor shortages, transportation problems, etc.. We have actually formulated the Plan to resolve any of these issues in advance so that we won’t be disturbed like someone nearby."

Henry Ford includes six hospitals in Southeast Michigan and Jackson.

St. Joseph Oakland is part of Trinity Health Michigan (eight hospitals) and Trinity Health (a national system of 92 hospitals), helping Sawyer meet his supply needs.

"The supply chain opportunities we have are much greater than that of a single site. We also have a regional distribution center in Fort Wayne, where we can buy a large number of products such as gloves and syringes," Sawyer said. "More vertical integration allows us to access these things and protects us from some of the problems in the supply chain."

In the early stages of the pandemic, McLaren Healthcare announced a partnership with Premier, Inc., a leading healthcare improvement company, to acquire a minority stake in Prestige Ameritech, the largest domestic manufacturer of PPE products, including N95 respirators and surgical masks .

So getting personal protective equipment is not a problem, but Diamond of McLaren has other problems.

"I can't imagine how it will affect daily operations," Diamond said.

These administrators have proved that they can make adjustments at runtime. This also helps them to obtain the support of medical staff.

"We have been working hard to find alternative sources of products, follow different agreements, expand our inventory, and really look for creative solutions similar to what we did in COVID. We are diversifying our supplier portfolio to find other Suppliers that may be able to replenish our inventory," Fisher said. "For example, if we can find available foam cups, we will find different sizes, or paper cups. We are working hard to solve this problem to ensure that we do not affect patient care."

It is difficult for administrators to work alone.

“Our work team pays attention to these issues every day. I have a team of supply chain personnel in individual hospitals, and we have a lead focus group in Trinity, and they will convene to make plans,” Sawyer said. "In addition, through the way we manage inventory, we can see possible problems within weeks or even months, and before gloves or syringes or other important items are out of stock, we begin to plan and take action to deal with potential problems. Shortage,"'he added.

All the crystal balls must also be glued to the ships in the Port of Los Angeles, because no one knows for sure how long the supply chain shortage will become a factor in the hospital.

"Our sources told us that I think everyone has their own views on this, but we expect that the international supply chain may not be normalized before the end of 2022. Then it will normalize, hopefully we can return to normal. Normal," Sawyer said.

Fisher said she saw the forecast that it will enter the second quarter of next year.

No one can confirm.

"We can place orders all day, depending on whether these orders are executed. Many suppliers have adopted a distribution method. This means that they will accept our historical demand or our historical purchases, and they will say that we are assigning Beaumont Health, and you can only order 75% of your historical demand," Fisher said.

"This allocation method varies depending on the time frame measured by the supplier, and the percentage is also different. This is how the manufacturer is trying to expand the inventory," Fisher said. "So while this is true for the global economy and all healthcare, I think this is where we are."

This is the new normal, at least for the foreseeable future.

“The team was able to solve the problem to ensure that the quality of care is still provided, and through all of this, despite all the challenges, we still provide the same high-quality care as before the pandemic, if not better,” said Sawyer.

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