This is National Health Care Supply Chain Week. It is a time to celebrate the unwavering resilience of our national healthcare supply chain’s people, products, and companies. Our supply chain is the backbone of our health system, keeping essential medical supplies, equipment, and medications flowing, even in the face of unprecedented challenges.
The Critical Health Care Supply Chain: The importance of a reliable and resilient healthcare supply chain has never been more evident than in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains, causing shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, and other life-saving medical supplies. This disruption highlighted how fragile our reliance on foreign manufacturing could be and how domestic manufacturing can play a role in planning for and meeting the everyday needs of our healthcare system, first responders, and industrial base.
The Role of Domestic Manufacturers: When overseas shipments slowed or stopped, some domestic manufacturers stepped up to fill the gap. U.S.-based companies pivoted their operations to produce critical supplies like masks, gloves, gowns, and other essential items to protect frontline healthcare workers and patients. This swift and effective response underscored the importance of having a robust domestic manufacturing sector that can support the healthcare supply chain in times of need, and it’s something we can all be proud of. Today, AMMA and its members stand at the forefront of ensuring we can meet the domestic needs of our nation through PPE and medical supplies manufactured in the USA.
Creating Jobs and Strengthening Industry: Our domestic medical supplies and PPE manufacturers safeguard our healthcare system and play a significant role in creating jobs and supporting American workers. By investing in and supporting U.S. manufacturing of healthcare supplies, we ensure a reliable supply chain and create high-quality, well-paying jobs that strengthen local economies across the country. These jobs provide stability for American families and help drive innovation and growth in the healthcare sector, painting a promising picture for the future.
Securing the Future of Our Health Care System: A resilient, domestic supply chain is critical. It will ensure that our healthcare system stands ready for future challenges, whether pandemics, natural disasters, or other crises. By continuing to invest in and support policies that promote domestic manufacturing of healthcare supplies, we can safeguard our health system from future disruptions and ensure that healthcare workers have the tools to provide quality care.
Our peers at the Association for Health Care Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM) of the American Hospital Association, which launched this celebration, are the leading membership group for healthcare supply chain professionals. AMMA considers AHRMM a critical partner in advocating for and ensuring the resilience of domestic PPE and medical supply manufacturing. Our organizations even collaborated to create a list of vetted domestic PPE manufacturers as a resource for hospitals and health systems.
As we celebrate National Health Care Supply Chain Week, we can honor the essential workers, manufacturers, and suppliers from the United States who keep our healthcare system running. By supporting domestic manufacturing, we protect our nation’s health, create economic opportunities, and build a stronger, more secure future for all. #SCWeek