VUMC employees encouraged to conserve supplies

Pandemic related global supply chain issues continue to impact the availability of a growing range products, including medical supplies. For example, last week Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) clinicians were issued information about a blood sampling tube shortage because one color of the top of the tubes has become hard to get.

In response to this global crisis Medical Center employees are encouraged to take steps to conserve supplies.

Supply chain problems were first noted last year with shortages of PPE. While that market has since seemingly stabilized the range of medical supplies in short supply has grown to include a broader range of products.

“As a healthcare system, VUMC has been and is currently experiencing the same supply disruptions as retail sites, car dealerships and grocery stores, but it’s even more acute because at the end of the day it can be our patients and care givers who could be impacted,” said Teresa Dail, Chief Supply Chain Officer and President of Vanderbilt Health Supply Chain Solutions.   

Dail said that VUMC is starting to have difficulty obtaining routine products utilized daily for the care of patients.

Items such as foley catheters, blood tubes, surgeons’ gloves, syringes, baby formula and anesthesia supplies are among a few categories of items in short supply.

“The Supply Chain team is working daily to assess current inventory, understand the delay in shipping or decrease in the amount shipped by our primary manufacturer, and working with clinical teams to identify and procure a substitute product if it is available,” she said. “The ask is that everyone be thoughtful at this time about what is being used, in what quantity and for what reason.”

Dial suggests these simple steps that everyone can take to help with shortages:

• Don’t take supplies into a room that may end up having to be thrown away after the patient is discharged.
• Don’t open supplies unless they are absolutely needed in that moment.
• Recognize that supply chain disruption not only applies to medical supplies and equipment but also other categories like office supplies, cleaning supplies and garbage can liners.
• Strategically focusing on conservation in your daily practices and operations will go a long way.