Securing PPE During COVID-19
Photo was taken prior to wearing masks becoming mandatory in Nevada
July 10, 2020
The Vegas Golden Knights recently announced that Emory Deschamps, Supply Chain Director at Centennial Hills Hospital, was chosen as a recipient of their "Heart Of Gold Community Three Stars Of The Week" initiative. The program recognizes those who are making a difference during the COVID-19 crisis.
Deschamps' responsibilities include making sure the hospital has adequate supplies. While COVID-19 was spreading rapidly through China, he noticed that Chinese factories that make personal protective equipment (PPE) were closing, ultimately resulting in supply disruptions with stateside vendors. Knowing this was going to affect his ability to secure PPE supplies, Emory and his team came up with a plan.
Deschamps and his team inventoried all the PPE in the hospital and created a spreadsheet to measure how many days' worth of supplies were on hand. "With the Chinese plants closed, we were competing with hospitals across the country to secure PPE," he says. "To stay ahead of the curve, we had to be really strict with distributing it." He also worked with Jennifer Dietrich, the VHS Supply Chain System Director, corporate supply chain department, as well as local vendors to assist in procuring available subs for PPE.
Chief Nursing Officer Janet Wright, DNP, MBA, RN, and Quality Director Lynne MacAllister nominated Deschamps for the award. "We were limited to 500 characters on the nomination form, and it was hard to put into words what Emory has done," Wright says. "My biggest fear was telling staff we were out of masks, but luckily it didn’t come to that."
Surprised and honored to receive the award, Deschamps says it is not about him. "This was a team effort, starting at the corporate office and extending to the hospital," he says. "The success lies with the communication and interaction from all the team players."