Celebrating our Supply Chain Team!
If you have ever stepped foot into the hospital, as a patient, family member, vendor, or staff member, then you’ve felt the impact of what our Supply Chain team does every day - perhaps without even realizing it.
This week, we celebrate a group that works behind the scenes to ensure that all of our teams have the equipment, tools, and materials available to them, not only when they need it but before they need it. Our Supply Team at St. Mary’s is comprised of two functions: Stores and Purchasing.
Our Stores team has 11 members who are responsible for anything and everything that comes into the building from the minute it hits the loading dock to getting it to its final destination within the hospital. For many recurring consumable supplies at St. Mary’s, the team uses a system that we call “automatic top-up”. What this means is that Stores has a set schedule that they follow visiting various areas in the hospital. They review inventories and based on a set minimum and maximum quantity, will determine what needs to be replenished. From there, they place the order, deliver it, and put it away on the unit once it has arrived. There is a lot of work to keep up with the number of items needing to be purchased on a regular basis and requires a significant amount of critical thinking from the team.
Did you know that many members of the Stores team walk about 8km or 10-15,000 steps in a 7.5 hour shift? Many of our Store’s staff wear step counters and exceed their step goal on a daily basis!“
The Stores team is incredible,” says Darlene, Supply Chain Supervisor. “They work very hard day-in and day-out, doing everything they can to keep the departments stocked with all of the supplies they need. I see the hard work they put in every day, and I cannot thank them enough.”
The other half of our Supply Chain department is the Purchasing team, which is made up of six hardworking individuals. Within this team, there are four buyers whose primary responsibility is to purchase all of our products and equipment - facilitating the delivery of these items up until the moment it reaches our docks, where Stores take over the logistics.
Our Purchasing team is bound by something called the Broader Public Sector Directives (BPS), which are directives from the province of Ontario that mandate how we manage the purchasing process when spending tax-payer dollars. The buyers work with our teams throughout the hospital to determine requirements of purchasing requests including:
- Consumable items (medical/surgical supplies)
- Capital equipment
- Service agreements for equipment repairs
- Contracts for construction projects (e.g. North Façade project)
In addition to the buyers, the team has a purchasing coordinator and student who work on the day-to-day ordering processes, including physically converting the purchase requisitions received from staff into official purchase orders. This is actually a requirement of BPS, as it ensures segregation of duties, which is an important control process. These team members also play an active role in following up on orders when they are late on delivery, working with vendors when items aren’t available for shipment when we need them, collaborating with end users on alternate plans when products won’t arrived as expected, coordinating repairs, matching invoices, and so much more.
COVID-19 has had an impact on both the Stores and Purchasing teams. Supply chain throughout the world has changed drastically with the pandemic and there isn’t an industry that hasn’t been hit with backorders, out of stocks, and shipping/delivery delays. The team has had to be even more on their toes compared to pre-pandemic times, putting the team to the test in coming up with innovative ways to combat issues. Collaboration has been key during these times, both internally with other departments and with our suppliers and vendors.
Issues with supply chain are expected to last into 2024, which will continue to put a strain on the team and healthcare as a whole. The intense micromanaging of supplies that has to be done, as well as mitigation planning to reduce impacts from shortages and backorders is something the team will continue to tackle.Even with all of the uncertainties of the supply chain world, our team here at St. Mary’s has been able to accomplish some amazing things over the last year:
- MRI procurement to help bring the first MRI machine to SMGH.
- Dishwasher replacement procurement.
- Strategic implementation of DocuSign to speed up workflows for signatures and other information. This has created a more automated process and cut turnaround times in half.
- Supported the procurement process with the shift to a new security company: Paladin Security.
- Developed and facilitated training sessions for staff on topics related to supply chain.
- Implemented a successful succession plan related to a retirement to ensure the department kept flowing and avoided interruptions or delays to our end users.
- Refined the stocking processes to minimize the number of requisitions by moving items to the automatic top-up schedule.
“Although the Supply Chain team isn’t the physical touch to the patient, the work they do has such a significant impact on not only our ability to provide care, but on the overall experience for our staff, patients and their families,” says Suzy, Director, Corporate Services. “Throughout the pandemic, this team has had to manage some of the most trying times as it relates to supply chain challenges, and they have done an exceptional job and ensuring that our teams at St. Mary’s are able to continue providing care to our patients and community when they need it.”
Although a relatively small team, their reach in the organization is truly endless. Thank you to each and every one of our Supply Chain team members for the work they do. If you see or speak to a member of the Stores or Purchasing teams this week, please take a moment to say thank you.