June 16, 2023 – The second annual HIDA Preparedness Summit convened a record number of federal, state, and local partners from key government agencies with leaders in the healthcare distribution industry to discuss efforts to build greater resilience into the medical supply chain.
Participants were welcomed with remarks from Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Nikki Bratcher-Bowman. Bratcher-Bowman noted that ASPR is focusing its efforts to develop medical countermeasures against the seven viral families with the greatest pandemic potential.
The agenda included discussion on supporting the domestic manufacturing base, and included a case study presentation from GOJO Industries CEO Carey Jaros.
Preparedness Summit attendees focused on several key issues:
- Supply Chain Monitoring Partnership: Participants provided feedback on a protocol developed this year to monitor the health of the supply chain. Specifically, they discussed criteria to monitor in steady state (green), identifying potential disruptions and how to resolve them (yellow), and roles when mitigation efforts are overwhelmed (red).
- Industrial Base: The skyrocketing demand for medical products during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for increased domestic manufacturing. Participants focused on efforts to ensure a strong industrial base going forward for future response needs.
- Communication: In the words of one participant, “If a burglar breaks into my house, I know to call 9-1-1. Who do I call to report a medical supply chain emergency?” Participants discussed efforts to create a centralized communication protocol to share intelligence about emerging threats to public health and bottlenecks in the medical supply chain.