A number of outpatient procedures at UVA Health are being postponed due to a nationwide shortage of IV fluids after Hurricane Helene caused damage to a major medical supplier in North Carolina.
The Baxter International manufacturing plant in Marion, N.C., about 35 miles from Asheville, provides IV fluids (IV solutions, irrigation fluids and peritoneal solutions) to approximately 60 percent of hospitals in the U.S. It’s currently closed due to flooding from rain and storm surge at the facility, according to a news release.
Baxter said it is supporting its employees in impacted communities and working to ensure ongoing supply to patients.
After a temporary hold on IV fluid shipments last week, Baxter is scaling and ramping up production at several of its global plants to meet U.S. needs, and it expects to receive product from these sources throughout the month.
It is also working to manage inventory by limiting purchase allocations to minimize disruption to the U.S. supply chain.
The goal of Baxter is to restart production at the North Carolina facility by the end of 2024.
“We will spare no resource — human or financial — to restart operations and help ensure patients and providers have the products they need,” said Joe Almeida, CEO of Baxter International.
UVA Health in Charlottesville, the area’s only level 1 trauma hospital, is postponing some elective surgeries and taking measures to ensure care for its most critical patients.
The move is likely due to a request from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services asking health care providers to implement product conservation strategies.
“UVA Health University Medical Center is postponing some tier 1 (non-urgent) elective surgeries Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to help conserve supplies to minimize disruptions to patient care, said Eric Swensen, Public Information Officer for UVA Health, in a statement. “UVA Health has also doubled down on efforts to prevent any unnecessary waste of the IV products.
“At UVA Health’s hospitals in Culpeper, Haymarket and Manassas, some tier 1 (non-urgent) elective surgeries are also being rescheduled,” the statement said. “Those facilities will continue to evaluate their surgical schedules daily to determine which procedures need to be rescheduled.”
UVA Health representatives are contacting patients if their elective surgeries need to be postponed and will continue to monitor the supply situation in the coming days. Any postponed surgeries will be rescheduled as soon as possible once the critical IV supplies become more available, according to UVA Health. UVA is “actively looking for other ways to restore” its fluid supply.
For more information on the fluid shortage, visit uvahealth.com/patients-visitors/fluid-shortage-faq
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Crystal Graham
