Baxter’s has restarted all 10 of its manufacturing lines at its McDowell County facility where more than 2,500 workers produce intravenous and peritoneal dialysis solutions, providing about 60% of the country’s supply of IV solutions. The Deerfield, Illinois-based company expects to be producing at pre-hurricane levels early in the first quarter, the company announced this week.
The North Cove site was Baxter’s largest manufacturing facility and produced 1.5 million bags of IV solutions per day before Hurricane Helene, according to the American Hospital Association. Its temporary shutdown led to the postponement of some medical procedures across the country. The plant was able to distribute some previously produced solutions to customers starting in October and has gradually ramped up over the past four months.
On Monday, José E. Almeida, Baxter’s CEO and board chair since 2016, retired. He will transition into a “special adviser” role and continue his employment with the company through Oct. 31. The board appointed Brent Shafer as interim CEO and board chair.
Shafer has been Baxter’s lead independent director since February 2023. Before joining the company’s board in May 2022, Shafer was chairman and CEO of Cerner Corp. from 2018 to 2021. He has worked in the healthcare industry for four decades, holding a number of senior leadership roles at Koninklijke Philips NV, Hillrom, GE Medical Systems, Hewlett Packard’s Medical Products Group, and Johnson & Johnson. He also serves on the boards of Tactile Systems Technology and Veracyte.
Baxter’s has a market capitalization of more than $16 billion and about 60,000 employees across the globe.