Sponsored by CME
Cindy Juhas,
Chief Strategy
Officer of CME
By Cindy Juhas, Chief Strategy Officer of CME
If you are launching, renovating or expanding a healthcare facility, time is money – a lot of money. When you consider that a delayed opening typically costs a hospital $400,000-$500,000 in expected revenues per day, it quickly becomes apparent that planning, distribution and logistics are critical investments that will easily pay for themselves.
At smaller facilities, the need for well-managed medical equipment deliveries is even more dire. A 20-doctor clinic could lose $125,000 in revenue per day in the event of a delay, and the smaller the operation the harder it becomes to absorb such a financial loss.
At CME, delaying a medical equipment delivery is not an option. The company – which is a comprehensive nationwide organization created from the recent merger of Claflin Medical Equipment, Hospital Associates and RSI – specializes in solving the most complex logistic challenges in the healthcare industry. Securing more than 1 million products from 1,400 manufacturers across the country, CME makes the most complicated projects simple for its clients by combining everything into a single purchase order and executing seamless logistics ensuring the equipment is delivered to the facilities and installed on time. Whether it’s a new hospital that’s been built from scratch or a clinic that is simply being remodeled, CME has the experience and resources to outfit it with modern equipment and bring it online without delay.
CME account managers build customized lists with their clients and have everything distributed to a regional staging area where all medical equipment, furniture and electronics are assembled and prepared for delivery to the client site where they are installed in one seamless effort. Everything is tracked, assembled and carefully handled before it ever reaches the healthcare facility. Then, CME manages the deliveries in a pre-determined and precise sequence so the entire facility can be completed in the safest and most efficient way possible. CME offers bio-medical equipment services as well.
These turnkey delivery services solve some of the most challenging logistics tasks in the modern economy, and a recent expansion at PeaceHealth’s Ketchikan Medical Center is a good example.
From staging to installing
Located on an Alaskan island with no highway access, the hospital added a new wing – including two floors, an expanded operating room and 54 examination rooms – but it had a very small team on the ground to handle the logistics and receive the medical equipment. CME helped the medical center select and order the most appropriate and cost-effective equipment, stored and staged it in a Seattle-area warehouse, stuffed containers, drayed it to the port and barged everything to Ketchikan. Upon arrival, CME had a capable crew fully armed with the tools necessary to get the equipment from the barge to a local warehouse. From this staging and assembling area, everything was prepped and delivered to the facility. All of this had to be executed promptly, carefully and in a particular order that did not disrupt ongoing healthcare services at the hospital.
Complicating matters, the general contractor in charge of the hospital expansion was running behind schedule and CME was given a smaller window to execute its installation. To overcome this obstacle, the company worked around the clock shuttling barges back and forth from Washington state to Ketchikan to make its deadline.
The barges run twice a week with each trip taking four to five days. The island is hilly and its streets are narrow, plus the trucking and lodging options were limited due to tourism and U.S. Coast Guard family relocations during that time of year. CME worked around this by renting an apartment for its crew and a 26-foot bobtail truck that was ferried over every Monday and had to be returned every Friday. In the end, the hospital experienced no down time and the equipment was delivered and installed without damage.
“It was a tremendous organizational and logistics requirement, and everyone associated with the project is very happy with the results,” said Ed Scovil, Northwest Network Director, Supply Chain for PeaceHealth. “Ordering exactly what’s needed, coordinating the warehousing space and full-barge shipments, and then receiving, warehousing and installing the equipment – CME took a great burden off our folks in Ketchikan who don’t have the resources to manage a project of that magnitude.”
About CME: CME, formed from the merger of Claflin Medical Equipment, Hospital Associates and RSI, is the premier source for equipment and turnkey logistics, delivery and support for the healthcare community. The company helps medical facilities nationwide to seamlessly launch, renovate and expand. CME has three branches and 32 service centers spanning the nation and offers an expanded product line of more than 1 million medical products from more than 1,400 manufacturers. As a comprehensive medical equipment and healthcare services company, the goal of its highly-trained and accessible sales force is to always provide the utmost in personalized support and service.