Celebrating Health Care Supply Chain Professionals

A surgeon implants a heart valve. A nurse administers IV medication. A technician completes an ultrasound on a trauma patient in the ER. Every day, at hospitals across the country, tens of thousands of products – from medical/surgical supplies to pharmaceutical drugs to diagnostic equipment – are needed to deliver quality care to patients.

During Health Care Supply Chain Week (October 5 - 11), we celebrate the people who work behind the scenes, supporting the complex chain of events that ensures the right health care products are in the right place at the right time. As the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare, supply chains have a profound impact on patient care.

Steps in the Health Care Supply Chain:

In hundreds of hospitals across the country, many steps in the supply chain are provided by Mohawk Medbuy (MMC). As Canada’s largest not-for-profit, health care shared services organization, MMC undertakes sourcing initiatives for med/surg products, drugs and equipment that leverage the collective buying power of our many Member hospitals. Those large volumes allow MMC, in their negotiations with suppliers, to obtain optimal value for Members – savings those hospitals can redirect to frontline patient care.

MMC also operates a 100,000 sq. ft. Distribution Centre, which provides just-in-time delivery to 60 sites. When supplies ordered by the hospitals from the MMC warehouse or other distributors arrive, the in-hospital logistics teams take over – restocking clinical areas and monitoring inventories to ensure medical staff have what they need to deliver care. 

Given the sheer number of items hospitals use, manufacturer supply disruptions are an inevitable reality. To mitigate their impact on the delivery of care, Mohawk Medbuy developed MitigAID. It’s a comprehensive program that provides hospitals with a single source of truth about disruptions. Drawing on MMC’s significant data pool and assessments by their clinical team, MitigAID also identifies potential substitute products – minimizing risk to patients and reducing the workload on hospital staff.

The supply chain is an essential and complex aspect of health care delivery that depends on dedicated professionals and innovative systems. Each link in the chain plays a vital role in supporting frontline care. During Health Care Supply Chain Week, let’s celebrate the people that make it happen.