Governors Form Regional Supply Chain for Medical Equipment

 The governors of seven Northeast states announced a plan Sunday to build a regional supply chain for personal protective equipment, other medical goods and testing.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the states would continue to partner with the federal government during this global and national public health crisisthey will also work together to identify the entire region’s needs for these products, aggregate demand among the states, reduce costs and stabilize the supply chain. The states will also coordinate policiesinvolving the inventory of PPE each state’s health care infrastructure should have to be prepared for a possible second wave of COVID-19. The states will also coordinate policies on what supplies local governments should have on hand for their first responders, and if any requirements regarding PPE for the non-for-profit and private sector are needed. In addition to New York, the other states that will work together are New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania  and Rhode Island.

The states will then seek to identify suppliers within the country, region or state who can scale to meet the demand of the entire region over the next three months. The goal of this approach is to decrease the potential for disruptions in the supply chain, including sanitizer and ventilators, and testing, and promote regional economic development.

“The COVID-19 pandemic created a mad scramble for medical equipment across the entire nation – there was competition among states, private entities and the federal government and we were driving up the prices of these critical resources,” Cuomo said. “As a state and as a nation we can’t go through that again. We’re going to form a regional state purchasing consortium with our seven northeast partner states to increase our market power when we’re buying supplies and help us actually get the equipment at a better price. I want to thank our neighboring states for their ongoing support, generosity and regional coordination on these important efforts.”

Update: Cuomo Leads 7-State Effort to Coordinate Covid-19 Health, Economic Response

 

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