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Hurricane Helene Updates

Baxter ·  Oct 7 00:00
Press Release
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DEERFIELD, Ill. - 2024-10-07

Baxter's North Cove manufacturing site was significantly impacted by the rain and storm surge from Hurricane Helene, which was unprecedented in Western North Carolina and resulted in water permeating the facility.

Supporting our employees in the impacted communities, bringing the North Cove facility back online and helping to ensure ongoing supply to patients are our top priorities.

Below are the latest updates in each area:

Employees: We continue to support our employees as they begin the recovery process. The vast majority of employees are accounted for, and we are still working to reach a small number of our colleagues. Outreach to those employees in remote locations, where people are having difficulty getting out of their homes due to damaged roads and bridges, continues door-to-door on ATVs. Supplies, electricity, and cell service remain very limited in the area. We are helping our employees and the community through our Employee Support Center located a few miles from our plant. The Center has been staffed by more than 100 volunteers and is supporting hundreds of colleagues already, including supply runs being made to harder-to-reach locations. Our goal is to get more employees back to work as soon as possible as we establish safe working areas and local infrastructure is restored. We have continued paying employees since the plant has been closed.

Facilities and Infrastructure: We have made steady progress on cleanup and remediation, including:

  • The temporary "rock bridge" we installed is supporting transport in and out of our site. We expect a second bridge will be installed by the North Carolina Department of Transportation soon.
  • We have not identified any structural damage to the facility to date, and we anticipate engineering certification within the next two weeks.
  • Electrical power to the site is now available and the local aquifer, which is the main source of water used in the manufacturing process, is intact.
  • Remediation is progressing, and we expect to begin communicating anticipated production plans within the next two weeks.

Supply Continuity: We have resumed shipments to hospitals and dialysis patients after the temporary hold last week, based on allocations as previously communicated. We have moved finished goods from our North Cove site that were not impacted by the storm and are inspecting other finished goods onsite. This inventory will be used to support current allocations in the short term. Several of our global plants are scaling and ramping production to help meet U.S. needs, and we expect to receive product from these sources throughout the month of October. We will communicate adjustments to allocations within the next two weeks as we assess timing of inbound products and shipments.

We continue to work with ASPR and FDA on special importation requirements for certain sites and products located outside of the U.S. These are not expected to be filed as an EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) but rather as special importation license. We are grateful for the support of and continued collaboration with the U.S. Government in our efforts to support U.S. patients.

We are appreciative of and grateful for the ongoing support and patience of our customers and partners as we work diligently to fulfill our Mission to Save and Sustain Lives for our employees, patients and communities.

Resources for Customers

  • October 1 Medical Information Letter for Home Dialysis Customers
  • September 30 Medical Information Letter for Healthcare Facilities
  • September 29 Initial Notification Letter

Previous Updates

  • October 3, 2024 Update
  • September 29, 2024 Press Release
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