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Helpers of the Supply Chain

 

Helpers are organizations and partners that have gone the extra mile to protect patients or contribute to the resilience of the supply chain during the pandemic. These Helpers/Beacons of light may or may not be part of the traditional healthcare supply chain or healthcare system, but their goal is the same – to protect communities.

Helpers fall under at least one of the following categories:

Helping Healthcare

  • Partnerships formed or innovative solutions designed to support the sectors and industries that support healthcare and the supply chain, e.g. solutions for food security and the grocery sector, social services, mental health services.

Diverting or Repurposing Resources for Healthcare

  • Companies or organizations that have diverted production capabilities and resources to manufacture supplies for COVID-19 response

Long-Term Contributions

  • Efforts that focus on long-term resilience as opposed to immediate COVID-19 response (e.g. Lilly’s testing of potential antibody treatment)

Helpers

Lilly Begins World’s First Study of Potential Antibody Treatment for COVID-19 

During the first week of June, Lilly announced patients have been dosed in the world’s first study of a potential antibody treatment designed specifically to fight COVID-19 infections at medical centers in the U.S.- California, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan and New York.  

Lilly scientists rapidly developed the antibody, called LY-CoV555, in just three months after AbCellera and the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) identified it from a blood sample taken from one of the first U.S. patients who recovered from COVID-19. The placebo-controlled study will assess safety and tolerability in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 with results anticipated by the end of June.  

Should Phase 1 results show the antibody can be safely administered, Lilly will initiate a Phase 2 proof of concept study to assess efficacy in vulnerable populations. 

Sources: Lilly 

INEOS Donates Thousands of Gallons of Hand Sanitizer 

INEOS, the world’s largest chemical manufacturer, wanted to join the nationwide, multi-industry effort to combat the spread of COVID-19. Recognizing that hand sanitizer was an absolutely essential need for hospitals and healthcare workers on the front lines, INEOS stepped up in a big way to meet this need: by building two dedicated manufacturing plants in the US an donating tens of thousands of gallons to hospitals across the country.  

Beginning in April at the Arkansas plant, INEOS diverted considerable resources to produce and bottle approximately 8,000 gallons of hand sanitizer. Together with outreach and coordination efforts from Healthcare Ready, INEOS made shipments to Illinois, Arkansas, Maryland, New York, Ohio, and New Jersey, where the hand sanitizer was then re-distributed to hospitals and other medical facilities in dire need.  

This first 8,000-gallon batch was so successful that INEOS announced that it would be producing three more batches throughout the month of May. With the help of Healthcare Ready, this incredible donation is made its way to Texas, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Georgia, Virginia, and more. All told, over 24,000 gallons of sanitizer were donated to nineteen (19) state and county emergency management agencies to distribute to hospitals and healthcare facilities, four (4) hospital associations, and three (3) state primary care associations, resulting in donations to hundreds of facilities across the country.  

INEOS diverted resources for more than just hand sanitizer, though. In response to the PPE needs of emergency medical services, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities, INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA donated enough Polypropylene polymer to make injection-molded headbands for 20,000 medical face shields. The face shields will be designed by a Herman Miller Product Development Senior Engineer and distributed by Herman Miller and Herman Miller Cares. The company repurposed resources normally used for office furniture to make this vital piece of protective equipment for front-line workers using essential raw materials from INEOS. 

Sources: INEOS – Hand Sanitizer | INEOS – Face Shields

Raytheon Technologies Produces and Donates Thousands of Face Shields for Frontline and Essential Workers

Raytheon Technologies converted some of their additive manufacturing capacity and used 3D printing to produce plastic face shields for healthcare professionals during COVID-19. The company donated 25,000 face shields to states and counties with the greatest needs, with coordination support provided by Healthcare Ready. All Raytheon Technologies businesses–Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon Intelligence & Space and Raytheon Missiles & Defence—joined the effort and produced face shield components at 36 locations. The face shields were donated to Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, Michigan, Indiana, Florida, and Texas. The company has also donated 1.2 million items of personal protective equipment and 500,000 component parts for ventilator manufacturing, along with the 10,000 3D face shields it has manufactured monthly. 

P&G and BET Partner to Donate Supplies to Underserved Communities

Procter & Gamble partnered with BET to donate hand sanitizer and surgical masks to five cities hit hard by COVID-19, aiming to supply African American communities with a critically needed resource. In partnership, the organizations prepared a generous donation of 55-gallon drums of hand sanitizer—20 apiece—and 50,000 masks each to New York City, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, and New Orleans. What followed was a true feat in collaboration.  

Healthcare Ready helped coordinate the donations along with the various local organizations to help receive and repackage the large quantities of hand sanitizer. Fire departments, distilleries, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) became involved in the effort. For example, in St. Louis, the emergency management agency worked with police cadets to transfer the hand sanitizer from large drums to gallon-size bottles, which were then distributed to community centers and clinics.  

Chicago has been particularly affected by cases of COVID-19, so the city’s coordinating agency decided to have community organizations receive the donation. The National Headquarters for NAACP and three of its Chicago chapters teamed up with the fire department to break down and distribute the supplies. Healthcare Ready partnered with Illinois’ NAACP state chapter president to facilitate the receipt of the hand sanitizer. The IL NAACP team identified an appropriate receiving location, repackaging process, and community outreach plan. As a result of the chapter’s efforts, P&G doubled the hand sanitizer amount to the Chicago area. 

Thanks to P&G and BET’s generous donation, 8,250 gallons of hand sanitizer and more than 250,000 surgical masks have been provided to underserved communities. 

Source: P&G

Heroes of the supply chain
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