As a rule, caregivers in the United States and most of the developed world take oxygen availability for granted. Oxygen orders are placed and the patient receives the requested amount. However, as seen during the pandemic surges and in times of extreme demand, the ability of a healthcare system to supply the ordered amount of oxygen may be stressed to the point of failure.

A proposed $70 million, 200,000-square-foot plant in Sandersville, Ga., owned by Washington, D.C.-based Redstone Investments Group, would produce nitrile gloves, William Curtis, CEO of Redstone Investments, told Becker's in a Dec. 9 phone interview.

Pandemic-related supply chain challenges escalated in 2021, leaving many hospitals across the nation low on basic medical supplies amid the delta surge, Kaiser Health News reported Dec. 9. 

Nine health systems have posted job listings for supply chain expertise in the last week:

The Healthcare Supply Chain Association named Todd Ebert permanent president and CEO of the organization effective Dec. 7.

As more customers in Boston seek at-home COVID-19 tests over concerns of the new omicron variant, pharmacies are struggling to keep up with the high demand, NBC10 Boston reported Dec. 6.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Port Washington, N.Y.-based Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare announced the recall of 496,100 Bed Assist Handle and Bed Assist Rail adult portable bed rails Dec. 6. 

As the omicron variant spreads across the globe, diagnostic companies are racing to test the efficiency of current COVID-19 tests on the market in detecting the variant. 

The past year’s challenges have shown the healthcare industry that there is always room for improvement within your supply chain strategies. Read the following building blocks of supply chain excellence from Paul Farnin, director of Supply Chain Solutions at Cardinal Health, to improve your own:

In response to the school shooting in Oxford Township, Mich., the Blood Emergency Readiness Corps is sending extra units of blood to the local blood center to assist the needs for eight victims who are still hospitalized, according to a Dec. 1 release.

The American Red Cross reported record lows in the nation's blood supply and on Nov. 15 warned flu season could worsen shortages. Since then, facilities across the country have reported shortages and urged donors to come out.

Ten health systems have posted job listings for supply chain expertise in the last week:

Companies making and selling unreliable masks made nearly $30 million in sales in October, The New York Times reported Nov. 30.

Supply chain issues will likely persist through next summer, Jim Snabe, chairman of Munich, Germany-based Siemens and Copenhagen, Denmark-based Maersk, told CNBC Dec. 1. 

Hours of service exemptions for truckers carrying pandemic-related freight have been extended, a U.S. Transportation Department agency announced this week, citing the need to ensure capacity to respond to a potential rise in COVID-19 cases.

Biomedical engineers in Massachusetts make an average of $124,160 annually, making it the state with the highest wages for that workforce in the country, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Female healthcare workers are more likely to get headaches from wearing personal protective equipment compared to male healthcare workers, a study published Nov. 13 in Brain and Behavior found. 

Delayed shipments at ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., have led to shortages in medical supplies across the country, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Nov. 28.

The CDC is funding research from Vanderbilt analyzing daily hospital personal protective equipment on-hand inventory to measure trends, patterns or statistically significant changes in supply in hospitals across the nation, according to a Nov. 17 press release.

Ten health systems have posted job listings for supply chain expertise in the last week: