DENVER — UCHealth said it is postponing some non-emergency cases requiring a lot of IV fluids due to a nationwide shortage.
This comes as a North Carolina supply manufacturer that supplies 60% of the nation’s IV fluids continues to recover from Hurricane Helene.
“[Friday] afternoon, 4:30, I get a call saying, ‘No, we don’t have IV fluids, and so we can’t do the surgery.’ I was upset,” Terry Joebchen said.
Joebchen was looking forward to the surgery on the rotator cup in his right shoulder because he was in a lot of pain. Additionally, he said he had already taken leave from work and had spent money to make his recovery more comfortable.
“I rented a recliner because I can’t sleep in my bed after the shoulder surgery. You know, a recliner is best. So I rented a recliner at $450 for a month,” Joebchen said.
Joebchen is among many impacted by the IV shortage after Helene knocked the North Carolina supplier offline.
“The provider put all the hospitals on something called allocation, which prevented them from only buying a certain percent of what they normally spend,” Jack Buffington, director of supply chain management at the University of Denver, said.