A temporary bridge to Baxter’s manufacturing site in McDowell County has enabled the Deerfield-Illinois-based company to transport more than 825 truckloads of previously produced solutions to customers, the company said Monday.
The company’s largest plant employs more than 2,500 workers in the North Cove community north of Marion and produces intravenous and peritoneal dialysis solutions. When flooding from Hurricane Helene shut down the plant, the FDA declared a shortage of some supplies and hospitals postponed some elective surgeries across the nation.
As many as 1,000 remediation workers have been at the plant daily to get it back online. That work is ahead of schedule, according to Baxter. The company’s employees are returning to work at pre-hurricane staffing levels.
“We are encouraged to report that, barring any unanticipated developments, Baxter anticipates restarting the highest-throughput IV solutions manufacturing line this week,” according to a release.
“The earliest that new North Cove product could begin entering the distribution channel is mid- to late-November,” the company added. “This is, however, ahead of our original expectations.”
Baxter does not have a timeline on when production will be fully operational. The facility produced 1.5 million bags of IV solutions per day, which represented 60% of the country’s supply of IV solutions, according to the American Hospital Association.
Baxter has activated nine plants globally to increase availability of products. A second temporary bridge at the site should be finished by early November, boosting delivery of more product. Baxter has also worked with the FDA to extend the expiration dates of some products. The company expects to return to more than 90% allocation of certain IV solution products for U.S. customers by the end of the year.
Baxter opened an employee support center to provide the community with basic supplies, such as food, water and toiletries, as well as access to portable generators, showers, laundry machines, credit union services and internet access. Colleagues at other Baxter sites initiated clothing drives for North Cove workers.
The Baxter International Foundation has donated nearly $3.7 million to support employees and communities affected by Hurricane Helene, including $1.5 million in grants to three humanitarian partners and more than $2 million in funding to employees.