Boise, Idaho-based St. Luke’s Health System has opened a 330,000-square-foot Consolidated Service Center in Meridian, Idaho, with the goal of streamlining its supply chain and expanding pharmacy functions.
The facility houses 20,000 storage bins and 6,000 medical and nonmedical supplies along with 28 robots and a 60,000-square-foot pharmacy area that includes a sterile medication compounding room, according to a press release shared with Becker’s.
The center currently prepares and distributes medications and supplies daily to most of St. Luke’s eight medical centers, 370 clinics and support facilities across south central and southwestern Idaho.
The pharmacy area centralizes intravenous medication compounding and home infusion services. Additionally, the area has equipment for medication repackaging and a shared warehouse management system, which allows the supply chain and pharmacy teams to collaborate while managing inventory.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed weaknesses in global supply chains and highlighted a greater need for control and efficiency, the release stated.
“Many health systems are just now realizing the strategic importance of a consolidated service center,” Adrian Wengert, vice president of supply chain at St. Luke’s, said in the press release. “We’re fortunate that St. Luke’s was already planning for this before the pandemic.”
