Amid the fallout from Hurricane Helene, hospitals across the nation have faced shortages. Flooding from Hurricane Helene damaged Baxter’s manufacturing plant in Marion, N.C., which supplies around 60% of the U.S. market’s IV fluids. On Oct. 3, Baxter informed customers they would only receive 40% of their typical IV fluid orders due to the damage.
Now, some systems, including OHSU, have been forced to postpone some surgeries.
“A lot of manufacturers are trying to be very judicious about where they send fluids to, making sure that everybody’s getting a little bit and not one big facility is buying up all the fluids,” Lindsay Dye, PA-C, a physician assistant at Evergreen Urgent Care in Portland, told KATU.
Matthew Lewis, MD, a physician at Pearl Surgicenter in Portland, told the news outlet that his ASC is only allocated 24 bags of IV fluid per month based on its number of surgeries.
“So all the rest of those bags have to be ordered from private vendors,” Dr. Lewis told KATU. “With the shortage, those costs are going up a lot.”
Dr. Lewis, who performs elective procedures, is having to cancel procedures as hospital cases are being prioritized among supply shortages.