March 2, 2021
Good Morning NAW Subscribers,

Check out all of our ANAE Supply Chain Leader Webinars we have scheduled this year that you can listen in to including Advocate Aurora Health March 10. We hope you can join us!

Enjoy this issue of National Accounts Weekly!

John Pritchard
President of ANAE
Publisher of The Journal of Healthcare Contracting
Simrit Sandhu joins Vizient, Inc.
Vizient, Inc. today announced that Simrit Sandhu has joined the company as executive vice president, Strategic Transformation and Clinical-Supply Solutions.

In this new role, Sandhu will lead the implementation of Vizient’s overall strategic plan and its supply chain businesses in areas spanning medical-surgical, clinical preference, capital, purchased services and supply chain operations.

Prior to joining Vizient, Sandhu was with Cleveland Clinic for more than 14 years, most recently serving as chief supply chain and support services officer. 
Johnson & Johnson committed to delivering 100 million doses by June
Johnson & Johnson has begun shipping the first nearly four million doses of its newly-authorized COVID-19 vaccine across the country, officials said Monday, and is expected to further scale up supply in the coming weeks and months.

  • J&J expects to deliver some 16 million additional doses by the end of March, "predominantly in the back half of the month."
  • An international study found J&J's vaccine to be 66% effective in preventing moderate to severe cases of COVID-19, in contrast to Pfizer and Moderna's higher figures of 95% and 94%. 
  • Benefits include it fully inoculating people who may not be able or willing to return for a second dose, and easier storage and transportation means it can be delivered to, and administered at, more community settings.
Register now for webinar with Advocate Aurora Health
Please join us for ANAE's Supply Chain Leader Webinar on March 10 at 2:00 PM ET with Bruce Radcliff, System Vice President, Supply Chain, Advocate Aurora Health.

Other upcoming 2021 ANAE webinars:
  • Bruce Radcliff, System Vice President, Supply Chain, Advocate Aurora Health
  • Michael Berryhill, COO, HealthTrust
  • Mary Beth Lang, Chief of Supply Chain & Procurement and Ije Nwosu, Head of Impact Spending, Kaiser Permanente
  • Ryan Koos, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Sharp Healthcare
  • Steve Pohlman, Executive Director Clinical Supply Chain, Cleveland Clinic 
Northeast Georgia Medical Center plans $700M expansion
Northeast Georgia Medical Center (Gainesville, GA) is moving forward on a new 11-story patient tower at its main campus, adjacent and attached to the main hospital building.

The plan would add 144 inpatient acute-care beds to Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s existing 557 beds, as well as new outpatient observation beds, relocation and expansion of the emergency department, expansion and minor renovation of surgical services and more!

The hospital expects the tower to open as early as 2024.
Mayo Clinic annual revenue grows to $13.9b
Mayo Clinic has released their consolidated financial report years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019. Read the full report below.
Masks stack up in US warehouses as nurses reuse N95 respirators
U.S. manufacturers say they have enough high-filtration respirators like N95s in their warehouses for every American adult, and they are calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to revise guidance that discourages the general public from getting them.

The American Mask Manufacturers Association, says its members have an inventory of 233 million N95 respirators or equivalent masks in their warehouses and the capacity to manufacture 298 million per month. 

If given a $75 million government investment, they estimate they could ramp up monthly production to supply enough surgical masks and respirators for every American each month. 

Though many members of Congress stressed the importance of shoring up U.S. protective equipment manufacturing last year, the supply chain remains dominated by a few large importers using goods from China.
Vaccine distribution to jump 40 percent next week, UPS executive says
FedEx and UPS said they plan to increase distribution of the coronavirus vaccine by 40 percent next week, with peak distribution likely to come in May.

Wes Wheeler, the head of UPS’s health care unit, said the courier service is currently handling about 10 million weekly doses but that the figure is set to increase to 14 million next week.

Wheeler told the publication that even at peak distribution, the vaccines will only account for about 6 percent of its 24.7 million daily package deliveries. 
Amid COVID-19 pandemic, flu has virtually disappeared in the U.S.
The AP reports that flu has virtually disappeared from the U.S., with reports coming in at far lower levels than anything seen in decades.

Experts say that measures put in place to fend off the coronavirus — mask wearing, social distancing, and virtual schooling — were a big factor in preventing a “twindemic” of flu and COVID-19. A push to get more people vaccinated against flu probably helped, too, as did fewer people traveling, experts said.

The numbers are astonishing considering flu has long been the nation’s biggest infectious disease threat. In recent years, it has been blamed for 600,000 to 800,000 annual hospitalizations and 50,000 to 60,000 deaths.
Biden signs executive order targeting America's supply chains in critical areas
President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday requiring a review of the global supply chains in key industries in an effort to boost domestic production and avoid shortages in critical goods amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The executive order calls for a 100-day review to assess vulnerabilities and areas for improvement of supply chains for four areas: pharmaceuticals, rare earth minerals, semiconductor chips and large-capacity batteries.

Biden said that the solution to supply chain issues will be to increase domestic production in certain industries as well as work with allies to prevent future shortages.
John Pritchard
Publisher of National Accounts Weekly


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