COVID-19 Frontline Feature - Materials Management Department
April 22, 2020
Diane Greenlee, Russ Ballard, and Rose Fabry are all members of the Materials Management department at EAMC. They have been with EAMC for 34 years, 10 years, and 9 years respectively. During their time at EAMC, they have never seen anything like the COVID-19 pandemic that has swept through our county. Their team has been working tirelessly to ensure that all materials and products coming into EAMC fall within the CDC's PPE requirements, as well as aiding in inventory to make certain that supplies do not run out.
“I previously negotiated pricing and reviewed new product requests,” Fabry explains. “Now I aid in sourcing products due to backorders, review new PPE specs to ensure they meet CDC criteria, help out with days on hand inventory reports to ensure we do not run out of supplies, and many other tasks. Each day, we have new projects and duties that we must coordinate together as a team to accomplish.”
Materials Management has been faced with particularly unique challenges as the United States, and many other parts of the world, struggle with the shortage of supplies. “Our biggest challenge has been getting supplies, not only including PPE, but also respiratory items, testing supplies for the lab, hand sanitizer, wipes, trash bags, multifold towels, and many other items that the rest of the world is also needing,” Greenlee explains. “We have reached out to the community for help with supplies, and they have certainly stepped up to help. Auburn University and a local brewery made us some hand sanitizer, and some local individuals made face shields with their 3D printers."
Greenlee, Ballard, and Fabry all credit the community’s support for their sense of constant encouragement. “The mentality that we’re all in this together has really kept me going,” Ballard says.
“It’s amazing to see employees throughout the hospital stepping out of their comfort zone into new roles to help take care of patients and each other,” Greenlee says.
Fabry notes that everyone at EAMC has quickly rallied together during this time of crisis. "Every day we head in a new direction, and our team reacts to these rapid changes with grace and gusto,” Fabry says. “Whether it is running out of items and using others in their place, coordinating logistics behind the scenes to make everything run smoothly, or setting up new supply par levels in different locations, our team does a great job of getting our tasks done quickly with positivity.”
“The staff lining the halls to cheer on the patient being moved from ICU really exemplifies what EAMC is all about,” Ballard explains. “We aren’t here just to make it through another day. We truly care about our patients getting better."
