Virginia hospitals and health care facilities’ IV fluid bag supplies won’t be as short as anticipated after storm damage to a North Carolina factory that makes the critical medical supplies.
Flooding from Hurricane Helene stopped production at Baxter International‘s plant in North Cove, North Carolina, where the plant manufactures most of the country’s supply of IV fluids. The company began limiting supplies to hospitals last week, warning that hospitals would only receive 40 to 50% of their usual IV fluid supplies.
“They’ve now upwardly revised some of those amounts from 40% to about 60% allocation levels for the highest demand IV fluids. And they’re also working to increase production. They have other facilities,” said Julian Walker, vice president of communications at the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association.
IV fluids are used to hydrate patients, particularly patients who are admitted for emergency or inpatient care. The Baxter plant also makes another type of IV fluid used for kidney dialysis patients.
“If they are ill or injured or dehydrated, they might be put on an IV fluid bag or an IV drip to help rehydrate them,” said Walker.
On Wednesday, Walker said that Virginia hospitals have implemented measures to conserve IV supplies. Measures include improved inventory tracking of IV supplies and limiting the use of IV supplies to only when they are clinically indicated in patient care.
Walker said that last week UVA Health ordered a two-day halt for using IV fluids for nonemergency or elective procedures to preserve supplies, but the halt was only temporary.
Walker expressed confidence that hospitals will weather the current shortage of IV fluids.
“We got some positive news today, which is that the reduced allocations are being bumped back up, not to full capacity … but to a level elevated above what was previously announced,” Walker said.
The hospitals’ experiences with supply shortages during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic are also expected to help hospitals cope with the latest shortage. Walker credited the hospitals and hospital workers for their ability to “rise to the occasion” during challenging times.
“There’s a lot of resilience built into the health care system, and there has been real world tests of that resilience over the last couple years, and I think hospitals have demonstrated their capabilities to deliver in those times,” Walker said.
Meanwhile, federal officials are working to move critical hospital supplies out of the path of Hurricane Milton, which was threatening another manufacturer of IV fluids.
Medical manufacturer B. Braun Medical said Wednesday it is working with U.S. health authorities to move its inventory of IV bags to a secure facility away from its plant in Daytona Beach, Florida, which it closed ahead of the storm.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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