Hospitals across New Jersey — one of the states hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic — are taking unprecedented measures to revamp their supply chains in preparation for a potential second wave of the virus, the New Jersey Herald reported.
An executive at Atlantic Health, based in Morris Plains, told the New Jersey Herald that its six hospitals plan to stockpile enough personal protective equipment to last 90 days at a burn rate 20 percent higher than the worst day they've seen so far in the pandemic.
Atlantic also has 50 percent more ventilators than it did before the pandemic.
Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck said its goal is to have more than a year's worth of supplies on hand. It is working to standardize its ventilators and is investing in expanded inventory of home telemonitoring equipment in an effort to keep patients at home and out of the hospital.
"We want to make sure if the virus returns, we’ll be more effective at managing them at home as long as possible, in real time with clinical connectedness, regular videoconferencing and monitoring of all vital signs," Holy Name CEO Michael Maron told the New Jersey Herald.
Hackensack Meridian Health, a 14-hospital health system based in Edison, has a "coronavirus 2.0" playbook with 30 chapters ranging from maintaining and acquiring supplies of gowns, gloves, masks and face shields to staffing needs in a crisis, according to the New Jersey Herald.
State health commissioner Judith Persichilli told the New Jersey Herald that the state's Office of Emergency Management reviews its hospital preparedness plans every morning, monitoring the number of hospital beds and testing kits available, the inventory of drugs in both hospitals and the state stockpile, and checking supplies of PPE to see if they meet current and anticipated demand.
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