Hospitals and health systems need to invest in advancing their supply leaders' professional development, the American Hospital Association said June 22.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the "ingenuity and creativity" hospital supply workers use to solve problems, the organization said. As the number of COVID-19 cases fall and supply chains partially stabilize — without becoming "normal" as inflationary pressures continue — the AHA said "supply chains are the backbones of healthcare systems."
"While healthcare supply chain leaders work every day to support hospitals, it's also important that hospitals support supply chain leaders," the AHA said.
"Without skilled and dedicated professionals maintaining them, day-to-day operations would be significantly impaired," Doug Shaw, senior vice president of business development at AHA, said in a statement.
Hospitals that plug more resources into supply chain leaders' professional development will help with retention, the organization said.