In Disaster Response, Health Supply Chain Egos Melt Away

In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, pharmaceutical supplies were airlifted by helicopter and ferried by duck boat to ensure the Houston population had access to critical medicines. The relief effort was not the work of any one organization. It required coordination across the pharmaceutical industry and with government response agencies. The organization now known as Healthcare Ready came to life after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, as the industry banded together to better respond to natural disasters. 

Erin Horvath, president of distribution services at pharmaceutical distributor AmerisourceBergen, sits on the board of Healthcare Ready and helps coordinate the company's disaster response. AmerisourceBergen has 27 distribution centers across the country and typically has several weeks of inventory on hand. If a hurricane looms, the company communicates with customers in the expected path to prepare, ordering additional product ahead of time if necessary, Horvath told Supply Chain Dive.

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