NORFOLK, Va. — A global shortage has health leaders with Riverside Health System and Sentara Healthcare making another pivot.
“We’re very used to having to change course and figure out how to move forward,” said Michael Hooper, the vice president of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
Intravenous contrast solution, also known as I-V contrast, is an injectable solution used to enhance imaging tests, primarily in CT scans. It's also used in many medical procedures involving the heart and blood vessels.
Just a few weeks ago, both health systems learned of the shortage. Leaders say it’s because GE Healthcare, one of the major suppliers of the contrast, had to shut down its major manufacturing plants in Shanghai, China, due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
“Even since the restrictions have relaxed a bit, they’re only able to bring in a small percentage of their staff,” said Riverside Health System Vice President Cindy Williams.
In turn, the facilities are producing a small amount of solution. Williams said on average, the health system would receive two weeks’ worth of products twice a month. Now, health leaders are placing orders every week.
“Last week, we got a very, very small supply, equivalent to about a one-day supply," Williams said. "This week, we are scheduled to get what would be an equivalent of about a five-day supply.”
Leaders said they immediately sat down with radiologists to develop a strategy to preserve vials, which includes using less solution or using an alternative imaging method.
The last thing they say they wanted to do is to delay any procedures for patients. If one health system is in need of help, the other is ready to step in.
“If there is ever a point where one system is short and there’s a patient in the middle, a patient that needs care, then we will do whatever we have to do in coordination with the other system to ensure the patient gets the care that they need,” Hooper said.
The impact of the shortage is expected to last for the next few months. Health system leaders say GE Healthcare will improve the amount of supply each week.