A shortage of intravenous fluids will likely start to impact New York state health facilities in the coming weeks.
Manufacturing interruptions following Hurricane Helene have forced Baxter, a North Carolina IV manufacturer to close. Baxter provides 60% of all IV fluids to the U.S.
Syracuse University Professor of Supply Chain Practice Patrick Penfield said it's an issue that could be here to stay
"That's the unfortunate thing, IV fluid manufacturing seems to be centered down south," Penfield said. "And so, you know, the hurricanes and tornadoes that are becoming more and more, prevalent, you know, this is the kind of dilemma is you are going to be in situations like more of this in the future."
He said the issues with this storm highlight a wider issue with the need to understand medical supply chains.
"I think nowadays, especially with what we're seeing with climate change, I think there has to be some due diligence done to really kind of understand the U.S. medical supply chains, see where there's issues and problems," Penfield said.
Penfield expects interruptions to weeks.
"You've got roads that are no longer there, bridges that are no longer there, the factory is under water," Penfield said. "I mean, there's just a lot of, you know, issues that are really going to stop or prevent them from actually getting back up and running. I think probably if I were to guesstimate, maybe in December, maybe middle of December is when they might be able to start up and hopefully be able to manufacture these IV fluids."
A statement from Governor Kathy Hochul said New York State is not experiencing a shortage in IV fluids now, but the Department of Health has advised facilities to start conserving supplies.
