Medical community members are monitoring an IV shortage in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
A supplier’s manufacturing plant was destroyed when the storm ripped through the Carolinas. The situation in North Texas isn’t dire yet, and the healthcare community is trying to keep it from getting to that point.
So, there’s a proactive approach as the medical community looks at alternatives. NBC 5 spoke to Steve Love, CEO of the DFW Hospital Council, about what’s being done to ensure North Carolina's ruin doesn’t upend operations here.
Love said the IV shortage in North Texas has been ongoing for about three weeks and counting.
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“So, the hospitals here in the DFW area are getting about 60% of the IV solutions they normally get,” he said.
The problem is linked to manufacturer Baxter International, which had to pause operations.
“IV solutions that were manufactured and that plant went completely down because of flooding, etc., and they’re trying to bring them back online,” Love said.
Other parts of the country are postponing elective surgeries due to a lack of IV solutions. Love said that is not happening in North Texas, but providers are mindful of how they use their supply.
“Chief Medical officers, physician’s assistants, and clinicians have all worked very diligently to [ask], ‘How can we minimize the use of IV solutions and still give great patient care?’”
In early October, The American Hospital Association urged the Biden Administration to take immediate action to increase IV solutions. Love said that plans are in the works for alternative suppliers to mitigate further problems.
“We’re trying to look at bringing in foreign manufactures of IV solutions as long as the FDA gives approval,” he said. “Some of the other manufactures that do IV solutions are trying to increase their volume.”
He said the good news is that Baxter could begin to restore operations as early as next week. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has turned to the Defense Production Act, which gives Baxter greater access to materials to rebuild.
