Pinehurst Today

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On May 23, U.S. Representatives Richard Hudson (NC-09), Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), Troy Balderson (OH-12) and Lori Trahan (MA-03) introduced the bipartisan Medical and Health Stockpile Accountability Act, H.R. 3577, to strengthen the Strategic National Stockpile and ensure the United States is better prepared for future public health emergencies. 

“The pandemic emphasized the importance of ensuring our nation’s health care providers have the PPE, medical supplies, and equipment they need before a crisis strikes,” said Rep. Hudson. “As the House Republican leader on pandemic preparedness legislation, I authored this overdue bipartisan bill to strengthen our Strategic National Stockpile and ensure medical providers have the resources they need to help their patients in hospitals across North Carolina and our country.”

The bipartisan Medical and Health Stockpile Accountability Act will combat equipment shortages by creating a critical new national system that will provide real-time updates of medical and health supply inventories nationwide.

In addition, the legislation will create resiliency in our nation’s medical supply chain by:

•    Creating clear guidelines for sharing

•    Eliminating inventory reporting errors

•    Testing the system annually to stay prepared

•    Helping state and local health care providers

•    Safeguarding private information

The full bill text of the Medical and Health Stockpile Accountability Act can be found here.

“It was completely shocking to discover at the beginning of the pandemic that we had no way of knowing the quantity, location, or production of critical supplies like masks and ventilators in New Jersey and across the country. I sat on the phone all night long with distributors in Europe and Asia trying to get shipments of masks and ventilators. I begged my colleagues in other states to see if their hospitals had anything they could spare — an extra ventilator or a few thousand masks and gowns,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5). “Years later, we’re still not prepared. We don’t have a handle on the exact quantities of critical medical supplies and drugs that are on U.S. soil at any given time. The bipartisan Medical and Health Stockpile Accountability Act will help America be prepared to handle a pandemic, God forbid we face another.”

“Real-time accounting of emergency medical equipment and supplies was a major vulnerability exposed in the early days of the COVID-19 public health emergency,” said Congressman Balderson (OH-12). “Taking immediate action on these lessons learned is crucial to our national preparedness moving forward. I’m proud to once again join my colleagues to introduce legislation that helps ensure life saving items are available where they’re most needed, should another national emergency occur.”

“There’s no excuse to be caught flat-footed by another pandemic. That’s why I’m proud to help reintroduce the Medical and Health Stockpile Accountability Act to track our nation’s supplies and PPE,” said Congresswoman Lori Trahan (LA-3). “This is common sense, bipartisan legislation to avoid future PPE crises and make sure our states, local community organizations, and hospitals are set up for success.”

“Premier thanks Reps. Richard Hudson (R-NC), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Troy Balderson (R-OH) and Lori Trahan (D-MA) for their bipartisan leadership to establish for the first time, real-time insights on the quantity and location of critical medical supplies and pharmaceuticals on U.S. soil. This legislation is essential to addressing a major blind spot in our nation’s preparedness and will help pinpoint the intersection of supply and demand, more effectively secure needed products, better identify areas of vulnerability, and enable timely access to the vital supplies providers need to care for patients,” said Michael J. Alkire, the President and CEO of Premier Inc., a leading healthcare improvement company supporting 4,400 U.S. hospitals and health systems and more than 250,000 other health providers and organizations. 

Original source can be found here.