Hospitals prepare for shortages after IV factory is damaged by Helene

Bristow Marchant, The State (Columbia, S.C.) on Oct 8, 2024

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COLUMBIA, S.C. — It’s been more than a week since Hurricane Helene swept over the Carolinas, but the effects are still being felt by some of the region’s most-vulnerable residents in the area's hospitals.

The Baxter International facility in Marion, North Carolina — a major manufacturer of IV fluids and other medical supplies — was badly damaged by the storm and had to halt operations, leading hospitals across South Carolina and beyond to take steps to conserve their supplies of the needed fluids.

A report by NPR on Friday said the factory in the North Carolina mountains was caked in mud from storm-related flooding and several surrounding bridges had been washed out, although employees were on the scene trying to get production back up and running.

Intravenous fluids are commonly used in hospitals and other medical settings for a wide variety of uses, from re-hydrating patients and replacing blood loss to delivering needed nutrients and medication. Baxter is named by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as one of the largest suppliers of IV fluids in the country, and the shutdown is having a wide-ranging impact on the medical community across the region.

“We are working closely with our health care facilities across the state to make sure they have sufficient IV fluids, so that people can receive the medical care that they need,” Edward Simmer, director of the S.C. Department of Public Health, said in a news conference Monday with Gov. Henry McMaster. “We are working with them to conserve supplies, and that while the federal government works with that facility to get manufacturing back online that no one is denied medical care because we don’t have the supplies that we need.”

A spokesperson for Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia said hospital officials are aware of Baxter’s struggles and are monitoring the situation.

“Baxter has notified all customers nationwide of the issue and the associated impact to Baxter’s production abilities,” the hospital said in a statement Monday. “Lexington Medical Center has been following this closely, and (is) working with our physicians to ensure patient care continues as planned.”

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