Medical device manufacturer Baxter said that after bringing more than 1,000 employees back to work last week, that number is expected to jump to about 2,000 this week. Combined with an additional 1,000 remediation contractors on site to aid in the cleanup and recovery, the company expects to have 3,000 people contributing to recovery efforts.
Baxter said it also continue to serve more than 100 of its employees every day at a support center that offers food, water and toiletries as well as access to showers, laundry facilities, computers and generators, since many of Baxter’s employees still don’t have access to power.
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Baxter is currently working to fully restore its North Cove manufacturing operations in North Carolina, which were shut down late last month due to flooding caused by Hurricane Helene. The factory employs more than 2,500 people and primarily focuses on making intravenous and peritoneal dialysis solutions.
Restoration efforts at the site include a second temporary bridge being installed, which will enable additional truck and equipment traffic to enter and leave the site. In the interim, the company’s first temporary bridge has already transported more than 350 truckloads of finished product off site. The company is currently deep cleaning the facility, including floors and equipment, as well as assessing the status of all equipment and production lines.
Baxter’s goal is to begin restarting North Cove production in phases by the end of this year, though it does not yet have a timeline for when it expects production to be fully restored to pre-hurricane levels.
The company last week was able to increase current U.S. allocation levels of its highest demand IV fluids for direct customers from 40% to 60%, for distributors from 10% to 60%, and to keep its current allocations for IV solutions and nutrition products for designated children’s hospitals were increased to 100%.
Helping with that is a recent FDA authorization for temporary importation for five Baxter manufacturing facilities in Canada, China (two sites), Ireland and the UK. Temporary importation authorization across these sites includes 19 IV solution and dialysis product codes.