ST. LOUIS — Hospital systems in the St. Louis area are taking measures to conserve intravenous fluids after hurricane damage caused a nationwide shortage, while other hospitals across Missouri are also having to postpone some elective procedures.
About 60% of the nation’s IV supplies relied on production from Baxter, a medical supplier in western North Carolina that was damaged by Hurricane Helene last month. IV fluids are sterile fluids that are injected into a vein to treat dehydration, provide nutrients, deliver medications, or replenish fluids lost from an illness or injury. They are typically plentiful in medical settings including outpatient and imaging centers.
“My whole last two weeks have been trying to figure out how to alleviate any concerns,” said Joseph Buchanan, pharmacy director for SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital-St. Charles and co-leader of the drug shortage committee for the entire SSM Health system.
“Fluids are everywhere. IV fluids are a big part of all health care, especially with the most critical patients that are coming to the hospitals.” Buchanan said his hospital alone gets two truckloads of IV fluids a day.
Thankfully, he said, Baxter is not the main supplier for SSM Health, but all the suppliers are now strained as they try to fill the gap. Officials with SSM Health and other health systems in the St. Louis area — Mercy, BJC HealthCare and St.
Luke’s Hospital — say they are diligently monitoring their amounts and have been able to .