Medical products distributors are trusted partners with existing infrastructure to enable reliable distribution to healthcare providers

Alexandria, VA, January 21, 2021- The Health Industry Distributors Association (HIDA) welcomes the Biden Administration’s focus on increasing the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other essential medical products as reflected in the National Strategy for the COVID- 19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness and related executive orders.

“Medical distributors get pandemic medical supplies the last mile to the nation's healthcare providers,” said Health Industry Distributors Association President & CEO Matthew J. Rowan. “Our nation’s existing medical supply chain is ready and able to reliably deliver an increased supply of essential products to the healthcare providers who need them most.”

During the first three quarters of 2020, HIDA members distributed more than 90 billion units of pandemic-related supplies – including more than 39 billion units of PPE. That’s a 15% increase over the pandemic supplies delivered by distributors during the same timeframe in 2019 and a 20% increase in the units of PPE delivered in that period. 

Healthcare providers rely on distributors and their 250,000 employees for their supplies. U.S. medical products distributors serve the nation’s 6,000 hospitals, 44,500 nursing homes and assisted living facilities, 230,000 physician offices, 267,000 laboratories and 12,200 home health agencies.

Distributors deliver quality PPE to providers by vetting and onboarding new suppliers, expediting shipping and delivery to all healthcare provider settings, coordinating with current suppliers to ramp up production, and by helping healthcare providers determine supply availability and delivery dates.