The largest health system in Maryland is constructing a logistics operations center to centralize its medical supply storage, The Baltimore Banner reported March 8.
Baltimore-based University of Maryland Medical System operates 13 hospitals and treats more than a million patients each year. To stock the necessary items for that many patients, the system signed a lease to build a 400,000-square-foot warehouse in Baltimore.
To adequately care for its community, the University of Maryland Medical System needs 95 million exam gloves, 3.5 million isolation gowns, 3 million masks, 1 million IV fluid bags, and nearly 8.5 million needles and syringes each year, according to the Banner, which likened the warehouse to a "locker."
The new facility, which is neighbors with Amazon, FedEx and Home Depot, will "allow us to improve standardization and reduce waste and get the right items to the right places across our system quickly and efficiently," a spokesperson told the news outlet.
Other than housing millions of medical supplies, the building will help the system better track its inventory, and officials are considering adding laboratories and sterilization operations to the site. The warehouse is expected to open in mid-2025.