As Owens & Minor’s more than 15,000 teammates observe National Health Care Supply Chain Week, the company recognizes supply chain professionals for their continued dedication and tenacity in helping to ensure quality care can be delivered, even amid global supply challenges.
National Health Care Supply Chain Week was created by the Association of Health Care Resource and Materials Management (AHRMM), the leading membership group that provides education, leadership, and advocacy for members, to highlight the critical role of healthcare supply and to express appreciation to the dedicated professionals that work in this area.
“Care isn’t just delivered at the bedside,” said Jeff Jochims, Owens & Minor’s EVP, Chief Operating Officer, and President of Medical Distribution. “Healthcare supply chains run from raw material supply and product manufacturing to complex transportation and distribution networks to local supply rooms embedded in healthcare facilities. For Owens & Minor, supply chain is an ongoing and personal commitment – powered by every teammate in our value chain. Thanks to their incredible dedication, we empower our customers to advance healthcare. O&M is proud that our products and services are among the leading brands in healthcare supply, including Byram, Halyard, MediChoice, QSight, SurgiTrack and others.”
Over the past 18 months, Owens & Minor has boosted its manufacturing capabilities and Americas footprint through capital investments, increased production capacity and hired additional staff to help support the expanded needs of the U.S. healthcare supply chain. The 139-year-old company is one of five companies working with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to produce approximately 600 million N95 respirator masks for the U.S. market.
To fulfill the country’s demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), Owens & Minor increased production capacity for both raw materials in Lexington, N.C. and N95 respirators in Del Rio, Texas. This investment in an Americas-based, end-to-end supply chain and manufacturing footprint made an immediate impact on healthcare between January 2020 and August 2021:
- Over 1000% increase in N95 respirator production at three locations
- Nearly 100% increase in surgical and procedure mask production
- Over 600% increase in face shield production
- 1500% increase in isolation gown production
With more than 45 regionally located facilities, an Owens & Minor distribution center is situated within a four-hour driving distance of more than 90% of the U.S. population. Thanks to this proximity, teams dedicated to supply chain and operations worked around the clock to get more than 27.3 billion units of PPE to healthcare organizations across the globe and continuum of care from January 2020 to August 2021. This includes 15.6 billion units alone in the United States.
