What US medical supply chain can learn from the fashion industry
The shortage of crucial medical supplies, especially personal protective equipment, has crippled the United States’ ability to quell the COVID-19 pandemic.
At least 54,000 nursing home residents and workers have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. as of June 26. This is a staggering number when compared to nursing homes in Hong Kong, which have reported zero deaths despite cramped quarters.
Other countries with ample PPE, such as South Korea and New Zealand, have reported few deaths in nursing homes. The shortage of PPE in the United States has gone on for months and is expected to exacerbate in a second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, due to structural issues in the U.S. medical supply chain.
As an operations management scholar whose research has touched upon health care supply chains, I have be...