Salt Lake City, UT, Nov. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intermountain Healthcare is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its Supply Chain Center, which was instrumental in keeping critical medical supplies in stock and available to caregivers and patients during the COVID pandemic.
The Intermountain Supply Chain Center opened in Fall 2012 on 24-acres in Midvale City as an ideal distribution and warehouse site. Its central location was within 50 miles of 90% of Intermountain’s hospitals in Utah and Burley, Idaho.
The concept of the Intermountain Supply Chain Center began five years before the building was completed.
Intermountain’s goal for the Supply Chain Center was to reduce costs while ensuring clinicians and caregivers had necessary supplies efficiently. By purchasing supplies directly from the manufacturer and leveraging bulk purchase opportunities, it streamlined processes.
“Because of the Intermountain Supply Chain Center, we’ve achieved many supply chain successes over the years with most recently assuring our frontline caregivers had what they needed during the pandemic,” says Bert Zimmerli, executive vice president and chief financial officer. “You can’t have a model health system without a model supply chain organization.”
More than 1,400 caregivers work across Intermountain’s supply chain in multiple states, with the center in Midvale being the main location for logistics and storage.
Large warehouses like the Intermountain Supply Chain Center are rare in healthcare, but what sets it apart is the logistics aspect which make day to day operations possible, said Zimmerli.
“At the time the Intermountain Supply Chain Center was built 10 years ago, it was leading the way,” said Allison Corry, vice president of Intermountain Healthcare’s support services and chief supply chain officer. “It was unheard of that healthcare providers were bringing distribution services into their own fold.”
The large space of the Supply Chain Center allows Intermountain to stock up and hold supplies on hand during uncertain times like the COVID pandemic. This ensures needed supplies are on hand but also allows them to stock up when prices are lower.
It’s been so successful Intermountain is expanding the center with a massive project to add 38,000 square feet of new warehouse space and 10,000 square feet of pharmacy space. The project is expected to be finished in 2024.
Intermountain Supply Chain is continuing to innovate as they recently partnered with Zipline to use drones to deliver over the counter and specialty pharmacy items to patient’s in Utah.
These innovations are key to improving healthcare access while streamlining solutions and lowering costs of care, said Corry.
To see more on Intermountain’s Supply Chain’s history, click here.
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Headquartered in Utah with locations in eight states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Healthcare is a nonprofit system of 33 hospitals, 385 clinics, medical groups with some 3,900 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called SelectHealth with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs.
Attachments
- Intermountain Healthcare Supply Chain Headquarters in Midvale, UT
- Intermountain Healthcare Supply Chain employs 1,400 employees across multiple states.
