Supply chain companies have faced unprecedented changes and challenges in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, from shortages of commonly used medical supplies and drugs to quickly pivoting distribution of different therapies as new research comes out on the most effective treatments for the virus. 

The U.S. needs a "more flexible" medical supply chain to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future ones, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told The Hill Sept. 17. 

A shortage of critical medical supplies continues and may be worse because the Strategic National Stockpile isn't designed to handle a pandemic of the scale of COVID-19, three supply chain experts wrote Sept. 17 in Harvard Business Review. 

Ten hospitals and health systems posted job listings for supply chain expertise in the last week:

CDC Director Robert Redfield, MD, said that states need about $6 billion to be able to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine, The Washington Post reported. 

The White House has blocked trade adviser Peter Navarro from testifying at a hearing before a House oversight committee Sept. 16 about a partially canceled contract with Philips for ventilators, Politico reported. 

HHS released an outline  Sept. 16 of how Operation Warp Speed plans to purchase and distribute COVID-19 vaccines to the general public. 

Many employers in the U.S. have struggled to access COVID-19 tests for their employees and receive timely results. Some employers have discovered they can generally get test results in one to three days by avoiding large national labs like Quest and LabCorp and relying on smaller labs, The New York Times reported.

Eight hospitals and health systems were honored for supply chain excellence by Global Healthcare Exchange for its annual GHXcellence awards.

Hospitals and health systems are increasingly turning to cloud platforms or updating their legacy tech systems to achieve operational excellence in not only their back office but also across the entire organization.

Quest Diagnostics has raised its 2020 financial outlook after its organic testing volumes recovered faster than expected through the end of August, the company said Sept. 10. 

Federal regulators have proposed more than $28,000 in penalties for a New Jersey nursing home that allegedly failed to provide adequate personal protective equipment to employees during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, NJ.com reported. 

The U.S. healthcare supply chain remains strained due to high demand for personal protective equipment both domestically and abroad, the American Hospital Association said Sept. 9. But supply chain leaders around the country have learned important lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, including how to vet the influx of new suppliers hitting the market and how to form strategic partnerships to combat supply shortages.

Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System in Baton Rouge, La., said Sept. 10 that LabCorp has acquired its clinical ambulatory lab business. 

Ten hospitals and health systems posted job listings for supply chain expertise in the last week:

The U.S. may need up to 176 million COVID-19 tests each month to safely reopen schools, according to a report written by health policy experts at the Rockefeller Foundation published Sept. 9.

Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health said Sept. 8 it is opening a lab to more than triple its current COVID-19 testing capacity. 

A testing lab in Boston paused COVID-19 testing after an investigation by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health found nearly 400 false positive results, NBC News reported.

Public health experts say it's better to get fast and frequent results from COVID-19 tests that may be less accurate than to get more precise results that take several days, The Wall Street Journal reported.