Vizient and Standard Textile Help Ensure Better Supply Reliability of Personal Protective Equipment for Vizient Member Health Care Providers

From Vizient, Inc.’s Press Release:

Ensuring supplies and medications are where they are needed, when they are needed has never been simple, even before COVID-19. Vizient, Inc. has been actively working to help improve supply resiliency and today announced the addition of critical PPE items to its successful Novaplus^® Enhanced Supply Program. Standard Textile is the first supplier to join the expanded program offering reusable gowns, masks, shoe covers and caps.

“We launched the Novaplus Enhanced Supply Program in January to directly address supply chain resiliency for pharmaceuticals and mitigate shortages of essential medications. Due to the supply chain disruption that has been caused by the pandemic, we are expanding the program to also include the PPE that providers need right now to fight COVID-19 as well as when they will face other highly contagious viruses and natural disasters,” said Kristina Bourke, group senior vice president, strategic sourcing partnerships & programs.

The Novaplus Enhanced Supply agreement with Standard Textile for reusable PPE includes:

• AAMI Level 1 isolations gowns
• Cloth utility fabric masks
• Bouffant caps
• Skull caps
• Non-skid shoe covers

Novaplus Enhanced Supply is part of Vizient’s larger strategy to outmaneuver uncertainty by creating a more resilient supply chain, built on transparency and trust between manufacturers and providers. This includes increasing sharing of information into sources for raw materials and product origin as well as expanding domestic capacity and requiring contracted suppliers to provide additional onshore inventory of the contracted products. The value and effectiveness of the program was demonstrated earlier this year when demand for propofol, an essential drug for patients on ventilators, spiked due to COVID-19. The program added 676,000 additional units of propofol to the supply chain during the initial surge of the virus.

“We are delighted to be the first non-pharmacy supplier to join the Novaplus Enhanced Supply Program. We have a long, successful history with Vizient and look forward to this next chapter in assisting members with their PPE needs during these challenging times,” said Norman Frankel, Standard Textile Executive Vice President of Sales.

“We are excited about this new agreement with Standard Textile and getting this program launched so our members have increased access to PPE. We expect to expand the offering in the coming weeks to include all other types of critically needed PPE including disposable gowns, shoe covers, caps, gloves, masks, respirators, face shields and other essential supplies such as surface disinfectants, thermometers and hand sanitizer,” said Bourke.

About Vizient

Vizient, Inc. provides solutions and services that improve the delivery of high-value care by aligning cost, quality and market performance for more than 50% of the nation’s acute care providers, which includes 95% of the nation’s academic medical centers, and more than 20% of ambulatory providers. Vizient provides expertise, analytics and advisory services, as well as a contract portfolio that represents more than $100 billion in annual purchasing volume, to improve patient outcomes and lower costs. Vizient has earned a World’s Most Ethical Company designation from the Ethisphere Institute every year since its inception. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Vizient has offices throughout the United States.