While drug shortages have been a challenge in the U.S. for years, the impact of the pandemic on the entire healthcare supply chain was unprecedented as were resulting effects on patients and caregivers.  

Cardinal Health has opened a 110,000-square foot facility in East Hartford, Conn., to support the manufacturing and distribution of specimen collection kits, the company said Aug. 3. 

The Emergency Care Research Institute honored 11 health systems with the Supply Chain Excellence Award on Aug. 3. None of 2022's winners were on last year's list. 

As the medical supply chain fights off inflation-driven disruptions and works to build resiliency, here are five recent expansions from supply companies:

The HHS launched a service July 29 for hospitals to track the availability of medications, personal protective equipment, products used for burn patients and supplies for trauma patients. 

As the nation faces a shortage of Jynneos monkeypox vaccines, about 28 million doses expired in the Strategic National Stockpile, and federal officials repeatedly chose to not refill the supply, The New York Times reported Aug. 1. 

In recent years, healthcare leaders have come to recognize the importance of fostering organizational resilience. This means today's healthcare leaders are seeking vendor partners that can help drive efficiencies, prepare for contingencies and optimize outcomes.

Michelle Greene was appointed CIO of Cardinal Health on Aug. 1. She joined the medical supply company as senior vice president of enterprise information technology in 2021.

In a time when the healthcare supply chain industry is a dynamic and complex environment, it is important to learn from each other’s supply strategies.

Here are 10 drug and medical device recalls that the FDA reported in July:

The Biden administration is dispensing more than a million Jynneos monkeypox vaccines in the coming weeks, but the next shipment isn't planned until October at the earliest, leaving the U.S. in a waiting room for three months, according to The Washington Post. 

Fort Worth, Texas-based Rhino Health, the only manufacturer of nitrile gloves in the United States, received $58 million to expand its facilities in south Fort Worth. The company received the funding from New Markets Tax Credit with capital from five community development entity leaders. 

Minneapolis-based Medtronic has recalled Palindrome and Mahurkar hemodialysis catheters, which the FDA deemed a class 1 recall, the highest level.

Here are 10 health systems that have posted job listings for supply chain expertise in the last week: 

The FDA cleared the way for Bavarian Nordic, the world's only vaccine-maker with an authorized monkeypox vaccine, to manufacture more supply after authorizing its Denmark facility July 27. 

Nearly 800,000 additional monkeypox vaccine doses will soon be available for distribution to states and jurisdictions, healthcare leaders said during a July 28 HHS news conference. 

Pfizer's Paxlovid beat Merck's COVID-19 antiviral treatment in sales in May, but the boom in demand is slowing down as less than half of Pfizer's production capacity has been sold, according to data surveillance company Airfinity. 

The state with the most monkeypox cases, New York, only had 1,000 monkeypox vaccines while the U.S. had 372,000 doses waiting overseas, The New York Times reported July 25. 

The world's only company with an authorized monkeypox vaccine, Bavarian Nordic, may soon be running 24/7 after the World Health Organization defined the current outbreak as a global health emergency, according to Bloomberg.