Peoria's two major health care systems say they have strategies in place to manage IV fluid supplies and limit the impact to patients after Hurricane Helene forced one of the country's largest suppliers to cease production.
Baxter International's plant outside Asheville, N.C. was flooded out by the hurricane and forced to shut down. That's forced the company to limit the amount of IV fluids that hospitals and other customers can buy to conserve supplies.
Carle Health operates Methodist, Proctor, and Pekin hospitals in the Peoria area.
"Our team in the Greater Peoria Service Area is working closely with the Carle Health system and has a clear strategy to manage IV fluids - care continues as normal at this time," said a Carle spokesperson. "We are monitoring inventory levels closely to best maintain patient care throughout our service areas as the impact of the storms remain."
A spokesperson for Peoria-based OSF HealthCare said the health care system is also impacted by the disruption.
"OSF Supply Chain, Pharmacy Supply Chain, and clinical leaders have been regularly meeting to assess our system inventory and implementing conservation strategies as the situation evolves. We are working to make sure patient care is not affected during this time," the spokesperson said.
NPR reports the U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration is temporarily allowing importation of certain IV products from Canada, the U.K., China, and Ireland to ease the shortage.
