Cardinal Health, a global, integrated healthcare services and products company, takes its responsibility to maintain service to its customers during crisis situations very seriously.
One example of this is during the 2017 hurricane season when Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) were hit hard by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. A primary pharmaceutical and medical distributor in the region, Cardinal Health played a major role in moving relief products and ensuring the company’s many customers – and their patients – were able to access these much-needed supplies during a very difficult time. The company’s extensive distribution presence proved especially important in the USVI, which faced extensive damage from the hurricanes and remained without power in most areas for two months.
Not only was Cardinal Health able to partner with vendors and ensure local shipping requirements were met, it was able to maintain the integrity of its healthcare supply chain while managing the complexities of access to healthcare during the emergency. When the company’s warehouses were damaged, repairs were made swiftly to ensure temperature and pest controls were consistently monitored and met all appropriate standards. Importantly, the company preserved its cold chain process and standards of integrity with medications to ensure that customers were not affected during this “last mile” of the supply chain.
Finally, in support of these recovery efforts, Cardinal Health employees went far above and beyond their normal “call of duty,” even while many of them were rebuilding their own lives. Many employees worked closely with hospitals and acute care facilities to ensure patients had access to care and medications throughout the recovery efforts. Since telephone and other electronic communications were not available, Cardinal Health employees physically visited hospital customers right away to assess their needs and help them replenish supplies. Paper forms were used and brought back to Cardinal Health facilities to process them and deliver supplies that same day. In addition, some employees even worked in customers’ pharmacies to support patients who needed direct access to healthcare supplies during this natural disaster.
Cardinal Health employees came to work each day during this time – often under very challenging circumstances – because they understood the important role they played in providing healthcare to Puerto Rico and the USVI.
Source: Healthcare Ready interview