Story and Photo by Jeremiah Kalb
A primary goal of the Purchasing/Materials Department is to supply every care team so they can provide patient care while not having to worry about supply levels.
Warehouse Lead Jenna Manwaring and her team keep the organization stocked in the face of COVID, supply chain disruptions, and various other inconveniences.
“Our first priority is to get the hospital stocked from the day and night before so the care teams can take care of their patients,” Manwaring says.
She oversees every pharmaceutical, supply, health and wellness product, and piece of medical equipment that comes into the organization.
“If the hospital does not have the supplies available for staff, no one could do their jobs,” Manwaring says.
Big pallet shipments are received from supply-chain giants Cardinal and Medline twice a week. Random shipments from Waxie, Staples, Airgas, Diamond Line or Old Dominion can trickle in anytime.
“On occasion, we have had up to 12 pallets for COVID related items,” she says.
The warehouse handles between two and ten pallets daily at the receiving dock.
Sometimes deliveries come through with apparent damage. While freaking out is one option (we need it now), dealing with the issue calmly and professionally, without finger-pointing, gets things back on track quickly and efficiently.
Before shipments can make it to the receiving dock for shelving or distribution, Manwaring reconciles a computer inventory with what is on the warehouse floor twice a week.
After this, she can generate purchase orders. “My list of POs is then given to Caleb, our buyer, to order from the vendor,” she says. “He places the orders from our different vendors, and they pull the order on their side, and it is shipped to us.”
Sometimes items do not ship as the organization expects—deep sigh. Even though the whole world is seemingly on backorder these days, the organization works around this challenge as best it can.
“Our buyer will look to see if the vendor has a comparable item in stock, or they will look at one of our alternative vendors to see if they have an item that will work,” Manwaring says.
Most employees do not see all the behind-the-scenes work going on, so it makes sense why they are not always understanding of delays.
“Communication is important,” she says.
Manwaring is grateful when delayed products eventually arrive.
“Seeing an original item that has been on backorder for months finally come in is the best,” she says.
Manwaring points out that this means that manufacturing has finally been able to catch up on their end. “It takes a little bit of stress off of us trying to find items that will work in the meantime,” she adds.
One might wonder what the most stocked item in the organization is.
“Putting COVID aside, I would say IV starts and primary tubing,” Manwaring says. “I order those items every time I place an order for the warehouse.”
She thinks most people would be surprised at how expensive it is to stock the hospital. “It blows my mind the dollar amount we stock daily.”
To outsiders, stocking between 50-100 different items in each department might look like a frantic, herculean effort, but for Manwaring and her team, it is calm in the warehouse.
“We have a daily routine we follow that keeps filling orders and receiving shipments running smooth,” she says.
The warehouse recently rearranged and relabeled the isles, so the items flow better.
Supply-chain that flows is nirvana for people like Manwaring and her teammates.
Because of their hard work, staff can quickly pull that IV start and countless other supplies from the shelf.
Why does Manwaring do all this?
“Seeing the joy it brings when items are delivered and working with some pretty stellar people in Purchasing,” she says.
Note: After the completion of Jenna’s story, Jenna accepted the role of Materials Management Supervisor. Congrats and way to go, Jenna!