U.S. Pandemic Could Severely Strain Face Mask, Other PPE Supply Pipeline

In today’s global economy, the healthcare industry is more vulnerable than ever before. Gihring⁴ cautions that many of the raw materials used in medical supplies and pharmaceuticals come from foreign suppliers and if global supply chains are damaged, U.S. supplies are threatened. A survey conducted by Novation and the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) that asked materials managers to determine the status of their pandemic disaster preparations revealed that many hospitals would run out of supplies in less than a week during a pandemic. More than half of the materials managers surveyed (68 percent) reported that their facilities developed comprehensive pandemic-specific disaster plans. Seventy-nine percent said they could continue operations without external resources for less than one week, while 54 percent said operations could continue for one to three days. The majority of managers (93 percent) surveyed have made arrangements with product suppliers to receive critical items. More than half of the survey participants have arranged for products to be delivered automatically if a pandemic event occurs. More than half also claim they can manage critical business functions offsite and can support existing business functions with limited staffing through cross-training. More than half of survey participants (60 percent) keep their pandemic supplies separate from standard inventory and almost one-third (31 percent) of the participants have preprinted disaster preparedness order forms.

Healthcare has embraced the “just-in-time” (JIT) concept of supply (maintaining minimal inventories and delivering products only when needed) procurement, an idea that works under normal utilization scenarios, but may crumble under the weight of a pandemic. Not because of what the healthcare institution is doing, but because of factors out of the hospital’s control, such as reduced manpower and transportation challenges within medical-supply delivery channels. JIT purchasing is at odds with the very idea of pandemic planning and stockpiling, which is a “just-in-case” approach. Detractors of JIT point to the 2003 SARS outbreak during which healthcare professionals in Toronto reported a shortage of N95 respirators because much of the supply was diverted to Asia, which suffered the greatest number of illnesses and deaths. Healthcare providers hoarded and rationed these respirators, or made do with face masks with lesser protective properties.

Masks aren’t the only PPE item subject to potential scarcity. In early July, Hong Ray Enterprises, one of the largest manufacturers of vinyl gloves and a major manufacturer of nitrile gloves, announced that it would be unable to fulfill some of its contracts because of a number of factors, including China’s restrictions on industry in order to help reduce air pollution levels in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing in August. The restrictions were in effect until mid-September, in time for the Paralympics to wrap up.