Purchasing for surgical masks increased 1,300 percent in March 2020 compared to the year prior, then spiked to a 3,400 percent increase in April 2020 vs. April 2019.
In June 2020, surgical masks purchasing fell to about 900 percent higher year-over-year and continued falling. By February 2021, surgical mask spend had leveled off to approximately a 100 percent increase compared to February 2020.
Together with 15 of our members, Premier’s investment with Prestige Ameritech has created a strong domestic option for masks and is now providing 5 million additional N95 masks per month for participating health systems.
Isolation Gowns
By mid-April 2020, global manufacturing ramped up to help meet the unprecedented demand spike for face masks and respirators, but this also produced an unintended consequence for isolation gowns supply.
Both N95s and many gowns are made using the same spunbond meltblown spunbond textile processing capabilities (also known as SMS textiles). When manufacturers prioritized capacity to produce N95s and other masks in the spring of 2020, isolation gown supply compressed.
As a result, a Premier member survey found that isolation gowns surpassed N95 masks as the top PPE shortage concern in mid-April 2020, with 74 percent of respondents citing gowns access as their no. 1 concern. By May 2020, most health systems had only about 20 days of isolation gowns on hand.
Today, Premier data shows that health systems are better prepared as compared to the pandemic’s spring and summer 2020 surges. While gowns usage has roughly doubled since June 2020, most health systems have approximately 40 days on hand as of March 1, 2021.
Year-over-year gowns purchasing was up 1700 percent in April 2020 (peak) and has since fallen back down to roughly a 100 percent increase (February/March 2021 vs. February 2020).
Alongside 34 of our members, Premier’s partnership with DeRoyal Industries Inc. represents another key step in a long-term strategy to build supply chain resiliency and ramp up domestic manufacturing capacity. Beginning this year, we expect this partnership to produce more than 40 million domestically manufactured gowns annually.
Premier’s global direct sourcing capabilities also secured 36 million masks and respirators and 16 million gowns from March to May 2020 – with forward buys securing 130 million masks and 50 million gowns in 2020 alone.
Gloves
Exam glove supply has been constrained throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and availability challenges are expected to persist into 2023.
