How 9 health systems rebuilt supply chain resilience

Over the past five years, health systems have changed how they approach supply chain resilience. What was once a process focused largely on reacting to shortages after they appeared has become a broader strategy built around predictive analytics, formal risk management, diversified sourcing and stronger oversight of suppliers. The aim is no longer only to secure products, but to keep disruptions from affecting patient care.

For many organizations, the biggest change has been the role of data. Michael Brown, vice president of supply chain at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, said supply chain teams have moved away from relying on anecdotal information from vendors and toward analytics-driven decision-making. He said the speed of the response matters because “the stability we provide our organizations is directly related to how fast we can react to what the data is telling us; it’s been transformational.”

Luke Martin, administrative director of supply chain management at Shannon Health in San Angelo, Texas, said stronger analytics have also improved the organization’s ability to anticipate problems rather than simply respond to them. That shift, he said, “translates to better care for our patients.”

Several systems have built more formal infrastructure around supply chain risk. At Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, Aaron Tappan, vice president of supply chain and sustainability, said the organization had no formal resiliency program before 2024. It now operates a comprehensive risk framework that includes supplier monitoring technology, an internal incident-tracking platform and a supply chain risk governance committee. The next step, he said, is to expand supplier monitoring and develop metrics that can better measure resilience across the organization.

Montefiore Health System in New York City has taken a similar path. Joe Wilson, vice president of supply chain services and chief procurement officer, said the system created a dedicated supply chain risk department that combines third-party risk management software with credentialing, recall and GPO intelligence. The goal is to inform sourcing and inventory decisions before disruptions escalate.

Other organizations are rethinking where products come from and how much inventory they keep. Nalin Kulasekara, system vice president of ancillary operations and supply chain management at Hospital Sisters Health System in Springfield, Ill., said COVID-19 permanently changed the system’s philosophy. The organization has shifted from just-in-time inventory to a just-in-case approach for mission-critical supplies, is working more closely with distributors to hold additional inventory and is placing greater emphasis on domestic and nearshore manufacturers. It is also investing in advanced analytics and AI to anticipate disruptions tied to geopolitical events.

At Trinity Health, based in Livonia, Mich., Dameka Miller, senior vice president of supply chain management, said the system now gives much greater scrutiny to sole-source products during sourcing decisions. That review includes supplier resilience, manufacturing capacity and geographic risks before contracts are signed. Trinity also has standardized disruption management across the organization, with established processes for monitoring risks, identifying alternatives and communicating with stakeholders.

Other leaders said resilience now extends beyond inventory and into the overall structure of the supply chain. Michael Alfaro, director of materials management at Community Memorial Healthcare in Ventura, Calif., said the health system has moved from reactive problem-solving to building a resilient ecosystem. That effort includes supplier accountability, stronger contract language and a multi-distributor strategy intended to absorb disruptions without affecting front-line caregivers.

Jason Moulding, chief supply chain officer at MultiCare Health System in Tacoma, Wash., said formalizing a dedicated risk and resiliency function has allowed the organization to combine internal and external data sources into actionable insights. He said those insights help teams stay ahead of supply disruptions and better protect patient care.

Some systems have paired those broader efforts with practical inventory changes. Les Feka, director of supply chain at Baptist Health Princeton Hospital in Birmingham, Ala., said his team has increased par levels for high-use products that frequently move to allocation, extended planning horizons and expanded safety stock. He said those adjustments have helped minimize the impact of recurring supply disruptions on patients and staff.

Taken together, the examples show how supply chain planning at health systems has evolved. Across the organizations highlighted, the focus has shifted from reacting to shortages to building processes, tools and sourcing strategies meant to prevent those shortages from reaching the bedside.