Port Jefferson, N.Y.-based John T. Mather Memorial Hospital was forced to transfer a patient to another facility because of an IV fluid shortage, according to WABC.
"The patient who we transferred could not take nutrition by mouth and needed a specialized IV solution that we could not get in time," a spokesperson from John T. Mather told WABC.
This incident is the latest example of how the IV shortage, exacerbated by Hurricane Maria's destruction on Puerto Rico, is beginning to impact hospitals across the nation.
According to an American Society of Health-System Pharmacists survey conducted in November, 96 percent of hospitals across the nation reported moderate to severe IV fluid supply shortages and less than a fourth of those hospitals reported having more than a 14-day supply.
In a Nov. 7 letter, the American Hospital Association called the worsening shortage a "looming threat to public health" and urged the FDA to address the shortages.
In response to the AHA, the FDA outlined the efforts the agency would take to mitigate the shortages, including temporarily allowing IV products to be imported and expediting the review process for new IV solutions.