Supply Chain

Washington state will return more than 400 ventilators to the strategic national stockpile, Gov. Jay Inslee announced April 5.

Now more than ever, the vital work that supply chain professionals perform every day is key in supporting patient care.

The CDC has released a set of strategies to maximize the use of face masks when supply is scarce or unavailable.

Amazon is no longer allowing the general public to buy certain medical supplies, such as N95 masks and diagnostic tests, to prioritize the supplies for hospitals and government agencies, CNBC reported. 

New York state is paying as much as 15 times the normal price for medical supplies as shortages force states to go outside their normal vendors and aren't protected by price-gouging laws, ProPublica reported. 

The FDA updated its guidelines for who is eligible to donate blood as the U.S. faces a severe shortage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Hospitals should prepare for a demand for medical supplies as much as 17 times higher than normal,  a survey of 1,591 hospitals conducted by Premier suggests. 

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

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center developed a strategy for hospitals to ethically allocate ventilators to patients when faced with shortages, Stat reported. 

Physicians at Greenville, S.C.-based Prisma Health created a low-cost, 3D-printed connector device to help increase ventilator capacity amid the COVID-19 pandemic.