We saw the devastation that followed Hurricane Helene in southern parts of the country, but closer to home the storm is having an impact on local hospitals.
“This is really very serious,” said Dr. Victor Filadora, Chief Physician Executive at Catholic Health.
What’s going on?
- Baxter International, a company responsible for 60% of the nation’s IV fluid supply closed a plant
- That plant is in North Carolina, impacted by Hurricane Helene
- Hundreds of workers are still missing from the plant, so there’s no telling when they’ll re-open
How will this impact us in WNY?
Many hospitals here get their IV fluids from Baxter, so operations may be limited depending on where you go.
Catholic Health
WKBW “They are Catholic Health’s sole supplier of fluids so this is affecting our organization pretty significantly,” said Dr. Filadora.
Catholic Health received 40% of what they would normally use, so now they have to pivot. They postponed surgeries on October 4 and 7.
“We are pursuing other venues and looking at other institutions that don’t use as much, you can imagine as this is evolving our buffer is shrinking and you never want to get to zero,” said Filadora.