YuLin Zhen, Photography Editor

When Hurricane Helene struck a major manufacturing plant in North Carolina, it set off a chain reaction that has left hospitals across Connecticut, and the nation, scrambling to conserve one of the most vital medical supplies — IV fluids.

Baxter International’s North Cove plant provided over 60 percent of the IV fluids used across the country. After it was struck by the hurricane, Baxter does not expect to resume normal production until the end of 2024. As national allocations are adjusted, Connecticut hospitals are strategizing to manage their IV fluid inventories and maintain patient care throughout a months-long recovery process. 

“Yale New Haven Health is aware of the current challenges with regard to the national IV fluid supply. We are working closely with our suppliers to ensure we have adequate supplies across YNHHS,” Mark D’Antonio, media relations coordinator at Yale New Haven Hospital, wrote to the News.

IV fluids are used to treat and prevent dehydration, including during various surgeries. 

Connecticut hospitals have already felt the fallout of the unexpected IV fluids shortage, caused by Hurricane Helene. While measures are set in place to conserve current supplies, the situation has become a growing concern. 

The shortage of essential IV solutions has already led UConn Health to activate a task force dedicated to managing the crisis.

“Baxter is the supplier of our IV solutions,” wrote Lauren Woods from UConn Health. “Like most facilities across the country, we are anticipating a long-duration event. As such, UConn Health is actively managing our supplies and has activated a dedicated task force working on patient care and conservation strategies.”

Other healthcare systems, such as Hartford HealthCare, are also closely monitoring the situation. Despite no immediate impact on patient care, officials remain vigilant. Danbury Hospital’s health system, Nuvance Health, echoed these concerns, stressing the need for proactive management.

The Connecticut Hospital Association — or CHA — has helped state hospitals coordinate responses. The association is advocating for flexibility in supply management, including extended shelf-life for IV fluids and other critical products, CHA wrote to the News. Additionally, hospitals are calling for the FDA to recognize the severity of the situation and allow hospitals to prepare sterile IV solutions in-house if needed.

Meanwhile, Baxter International has been ramping up production at its other global facilities and working with the FDA on temporary importation of products to mitigate the U.S. shortage. The company also outlined its efforts to increase allocations for high-demand IV fluids.

“We will spare no resource — human or financial — to restart operations and help ensure patients and providers have the products they need,” Baxter wrote in its most recent update.

Despite these efforts, as stated in their post-Hurricane Helene update, Baxter does not expect to fully resume production at its North Cove facility until late 2024, leaving Connecticut’s healthcare systems forced to ration supplies carefully and brace for longer-term consequences.

Dr. James Dodington, associate professor of pediatric emergency medicine at the School of Medicine, said that IV hydration is a “critical part” of emergency operations.

“It is very concerning to us as physicians and health practitioners that we can have such limitations to critical parts of what we do just because of a consolidation of resources from a single center,” Dodington said. “It has made us quite concerned that these supply chain disruptions can have significant downstream effects.” 

Dr. Dodington’s comments mirror a growing anxiety within the medical community about the vulnerabilities of centralized supply chains. In the wake of Hurricane Helene, the dangers of relying on a single supplier like Baxter have come into sharper focus. 

Over the past few years, healthcare systems have seen shortages of essential medications, including ibuprofen and ketamine, following supply chain disruptions. 

YNHH is located at 20 York St, New Haven, CT.