Due to the damage from Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, the largest factory for the medical technology business Baxter International has been shut down.
More than 2,500 people work at the company’s North Cove plant in Marion, North Carolina. The main thing this site does is make treatments for intravenous and peritoneal dialysis. Baxter said that it makes more of these products than any other company in the US.
The company said it is working with local, state, and federal officials to figure out how bad the damage is and make a plan to get the plant back online as soon as possible, even though North Cove isn’t producing anything right now.
“Our hearts and thoughts are with everyone who has been hurt by Hurricane Helene,” said José (Joe) E. Almeida, CEO of Baxter. “The safety of our employees, their families, and the communities where we work is still our top priority, and we are dedicated to helping make sure that patients have a steady supply of products.”
Work to fix the problem is already begun, and we will use all of our resources, including people and money, to get production back up and running and make sure that patients and providers have the products they need.
Before the storm, Baxter put its hurricane preparedness plan into action. This included making plans for coworkers to leave the building and moving goods to higher ground or safe storage where possible. A barrier broke because of the heavy rain and storm surge, letting water into the site. The bridges that lead to the spot are also broken.
Customers of Baxter are being told about the steps the company is taking to fix any problems as quickly as possible. Some of these are actively handling inventory and putting in place a protective allocation process by product line to help keep supplies going and make sure that products are distributed fairly.
As the company works to fully restore North Cove’s manufacturing processes, it will use Baxter’s global manufacturing network to help reduce any possible supply chain impacts.
The Baxter International Foundation has promised to give $1.5 million to its humanitarian aid partners to help with recovery needs. It is also adding more money to its Employee Disaster Relief Fund and matching employee gifts to relief efforts $2 for every $1 given.
Baxter is grateful for the strong support of regulatory agencies such as HHS (Department of Health and Human Services), FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration), ASPR (Administration for Strategic Preparedness & Response), FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), DHS (Department of Homeland Security), as well as the hard work and dedication of its employees on the ground and in the office.
Baxter will keep you informed as more information comes in, and they hope to give you an update on when they think production will be able to start up again as soon as they can. The company is working quickly to get its manufacturing operations back up and running and start output again, but the disruption is expected to hurt the company’s finances.
Once the company has a better idea of how bad the damage is, it will be better able to predict what effect it will have. It hopes to give an update when it reports its third quarter earnings.