Hospitals in North Texas continue to stockpile to avoid procedure delays as IV fluid shortages test systems nationwide.

Flooding from Hurricane Helene in late September challenged the company Baxter International to close its North Carolina manufacturing plant. It is responsible for 60% of intravenous fluids used in the US, according to the American Hospital Association.

Stephen Love, President Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Boardsaid the coalition of 90 North Texas hospitals avoided canceling or postponing elective procedures through conservation efforts and alternative types of solutions and treatments.

“Hopefully, maybe by the middle of December or the end of December, we’ll be almost back to normal,” he said. “We were able to weather the storm, if you will, of the IV shortage through total cooperation among our clinical leaders.”

Dr. Joseph Chang, Parkland Health’s chief medical officer said the hospital system is ready to conserve fluids until early next year. Conservation efforts have ranged from eliminating automated fluid orders and requiring attending physicians to use only as much fluid as necessary.

“What we really asked them to do at the beginning of the shortage was to think now about what kind and how much fluids they need,” he said. “Many of these conservation efforts have worked very, very well. .”

Parkland Health received about half the supply it did before the hurricane, Chang said. The hospital system is using 60 percent of its supplies compared to before the shutdown.

Health facilities in Texas have similarly taken proactive conservation measures and used “alternative therapeutic options as clinically appropriate and consistent with medical guidelines,” a spokesperson wrote in a e-mail.

Representatives from Children’s Health and UT Health East Texas told KERA News that patients at their facilities did not experience service interruptions.

Preservation efforts varied at hospital systems across the country. Some systems across the country, incl Midland Memorial Hospital they announced postponements for elective surgeries.

Baxter International announced October 31 that operations resumed at North Cove, North Carolina, the plant’s most productive production line earlier than expected. The line produced about half of the country’s 1-liter IV solutions, which are the most widely used size among hospitals and clinics, before the hurricane.

The company aims to return to allocating 90 or 100 percent of certain IV fluids to hospitals by the end of the year. Baxter International is scheduled to issue its next update on Thursday.

Federal agencies also have stepped in to help Baxter International reopenships supplies to hospitals and increases supplies of IV fluids from other suppliers – including temporary authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for IV fluids and dialysis products from other countries.

Kailey Broussard is KERA’s health reporter. Do you have a tip? Email Kailey at [email protected].

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