Aligning sales excellence was the focus at the O&M Annual Sales Conference in early 2020—and that focus would prove beneficial as the industry navigated the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis.
Repertoire Magazine recently featured the O&M Annual Sales Conference as well as an overview of how the company is supporting teammates and customers throughout COVID-19.
Click here to read more in the June 2020 issue of Repertoire.
Brook Joanna Murphy became a Customer Support Specialist with Owens & Minor after serving in the Army for four years. The best part of her new career? According to Brook, it’s “continuing to aid our military with their medical needs. It gives me great pride to help them and their dependents in any way I am able.” Click here to read Brook’s full Q&A about transitioning from the Army to a career at Owens & Minor on page 24 of Vetrepreneur Magazine.
Brook is not the only veteran who has found a fulfilling career with Owens & Minor. In the same issue, Vetrepreneur Magazine featured an overview of how O&M continues to look to military veterans to fill crucial roles—particularly as our nation navigates COVID-19. Chief Human Resources Officer Shana Neal and Board Member Lieutenant General Gwen Bingham weigh in on the unique expertise veterans bring to Owens & Minor. Click here to read more on page 22.
Owens & Minor recently began to install the first 25 of over 50 state-of-art RFID cabinet for a large hospital in the South as part of their existing QSight inventory management service.
The RFID cabinets, a mixture of ambient and temperature-controlled units, use access control and leading-edge, RFID technology to automatically track and monitor items stored in the cabinet, typically higher dollar inventory items used in medical procedures. And because this hospital is using O&M’s QSight, users have complete visibility into the cabinet and can easily track and monitor the inventory 24/7, allowing greater and more accurate control of the inventory.
These RFID cabinets, combined with O&M’s QSight solution, will enable this hospital to easily track and maintain their inventory to ensure they always have the right product at the right time.
This is the first of three installations for the cabinets throughout the hospital. Terso Solutions, Inc., a technology company delivering automated supply chain solutions manufactured the RFID cabinets.
Once installed, QSight RFID cabinets will provide accurate inventory data, particularly for short-shelf life, high expense products, so that healthcare providers can count on having the right products for a procedure at any time.
With QSight and the RFID cabinets, this hospital will be able to streamline inventory management so clinicians are empowered to focus on what’s most important—patient care.
As the industry navigates the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals are finding new ways to connect. Owens & Minor is pleased to participate virtually in this year’s AORN Global Surgical Conference & Expo. The Virtual event is currently in progress and will be available online through July 31.
AORN members can click the links below to log in and search for “Owens & Minor” in the Exhibitor Education and Product Showcase to experience our contributions to this year’s event.
Exhibitor Education: The Healthy OR Webinar
Attend this CE Seminar to learn more about the characteristics of a healthy OR in three domains (operations, finance, and patient safety and satisfaction), followed by a discussion of actions health care organizations can take to achieve and maintain a healthy OR.
Product Showcase: QSight
QSight is an industry-leading, cloud-based inventory solution for cardiac cath labs, electrophysiology labs, interventional radiology, operating rooms and ambulatory surgery centers. Using hand scanners, clinicians simply scan a product’s bar code to take it in and out of inventory. QSight’s unique barcode parsing logic along with its 600,000 SKU database will automatically populate all the relevant information needed such as product description, item and lot number, expiration data and so much more.
The fight against COVID-19 is an unprecedented challenge across the healthcare industry. Owens & Minor is proud to serve our mission of empowering our customers to advance healthcare throughout this crisis and beyond.
In a special 2020 edition of the Journal of Healthcare Contracting (JHC), President & CEO Ed Pesicka wrote a letter to the industry emphasizing our commitment to healthcare during these difficult times.
He reminds JHC readers: “Throughout the many challenges and unprecedented demand stemming from COVID-19, Owens & Minor’s goal remains the same: we’re here for healthcare. We’re here for the clinicians and the patients. We’re here for each other.”
Sheri Voss, Owens & Minor Supply Chain Services Assistant Principal Consultant, recently received the AORN President’s Award recognizing individual excellence in the field of Operating Room Nursing.
Sheri has consulted hospitals nationwide, and has identified and implemented clinical and non-clinical supply cost savings while improving processes that enable clinicians to focus on patient care.
She is a member of Owens & Minor’s SurgiTrack team, and has been responsible for a number of implementation and consultative projects related to our SurgiTrack offering. Sheri has been active in AORN for many years, serving on the National AORN Board of Directors for six years.
Owens & Minor is pleased to congratulate Sheri on this prestigious award.
In order to best serve our customers across the continuum of healthcare, Owens & Minor partners with GHX, a healthcare business and data automation company, to complete transactions. Recently, Owens & Minor was named a member of the GHX Millennium Club—an honor provided to organizations that have generated over 1 million automated transactions annually through the GHX Exchange.
This distinction demonstrates Owens & Minors commitment to supply chain automation, which drives efficiency and accuracy with our healthcare customers and industry partners.
We’re proud to join the GHX Millennium Club as we continue to empower our customers to advance healthcare!
President & CEO Ed Pesicka has been honored as a member of Virginia Business Magazine’s inaugural Power 500—a list of 500 significant corporate and community leaders throughout the state.
For the healthcare sector, Virginia Business sought influential individuals who are making a difference in the Commonwealth. Pesicka joins a list of pioneering healthcare leaders providing strong leadership throughout unprecedented times. Under his leadership, Owens & Minor stock prices have risen dramatically as the Company remains focused on its mission to empower customers to advance healthcare.
Pesicka’s best advice in the midst of this success? “Stay humble because when you are doing something well, the results will clearly speak for themselves.”
Click below to read more about Pesicka, including his first job, his thoughts on building a goal-oriented corporate culture, and more.
Today, Edward Pesicka, President and CEO of Owens & Minor, a leading manufacturer of HALYARD* branded Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), welcomed the announcement from President Biden of the National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness.
“Thank you, President Biden,” said Pesicka. “When Americans mask up during this crucial phase in the pandemic, we want them to reach for a Made in America mask and other PPE whenever possible. Our 15,000 teammates have been working continuously throughout the pandemic to answer the call of our country. We welcome President Biden’s thoughtful and comprehensive approach to combating this pandemic and we look forward to working with the administration.”
As one of the world’s largest vertically integrated manufacturers of a full range of healthcare PPE, and a leading distributor of medical supplies, Owens & Minor delivered more than 12 billion PPE units in the United States in 2020. Owens & Minor owns and operates an Americas-based manufacturing footprint – manufacturing our own raw materials in North Carolina and converting that raw material into N95 respirators, isolation gowns, surgical gowns, ear loop masks, and other PPE in its own plants in Texas, Mexico, and Honduras. Owens & Minor is also one of the very few U.S. companies to manufacture nitrile gloves at large scale within its own factory in Southeast Asia. “We offer our large-scale manufacturing expertise to the administration,” added Pesicka.
In 2020, Owens & Minor made significant investments in capital, operational efficiency, rate of operation, and expanded its workforce to ramp up production and delivery of PPE. These investments were supplemented by a Technology Investment Agreement (TIA) from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
As a result of these combined efforts, Owens & Minor achieved:
Owens & Minor was also selected as one of five companies to work with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to produce approximately 600 million N95 respirator masks for the U.S. market.
For the past 20 years, global healthcare manufacturer’s HALYARD-branded product line of masks and N95 respirators has ranked at the top of the facial protection market.
As the United States prepares to enter flu season under the persistent COVID-19 pandemic, Owens & Minor (NYSE: OMI), the nation’s leading producer of medical-grade facial protection products, continues to increase production and invest in its capacity to provide frontline workers with procedure masks and N95 respirators.
“At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Owens & Minor acted with urgency and investment to deliver an increased supply of facial protection products, including procedure masks and N95 respirators,” said Edward A. Pesicka, President and CEO of Owens & Minor. “We are laser-focused on providing the highest quality products that are specifically designed for medical staff and essential workers. Frontline workers need protection now, and we are working tirelessly to meet that need.”
Since February, Owens & Minor has acted across four key categories and is poised to help support the nation’s critical facial protection needs:
• Surgical N95 Respirators: Over 1000% increase in N95 production at three Americas locations, including additional manufacturing assets in Del Rio, Texas and Lexington, N.C.
• Surgical and Procedure Masks: Nearly 100% increase in surgical and procedure mask production through new capital investment and improving efficiency of operations in Acuña, Mexico
• Face Shields: Over 600% increase in face shields through new capital investment in Acuña, Mexico
• Raw Materials: Additional, dedicated meltblown fabric manufacturing line in Lexington, N.C. to ensure end-to-end control of Owens & Minor supply chain, providing self-sufficiency from base material to finished mask—unlike other suppliers who rely on supply from Asia
The significant improvements across Owens & Minor’s facial protection categories were made possible by capital investments, improved rates of operation and increased production capacity to 24/7 shifts.
“Unlike many other manufacturers of facial protection products, Owens & Minor has more than a century of healthcare experience and is proud of our Americas-based manufacturing of medical-grade N95s dating to 1997,” said Pesicka. “We stand ready to provide protection for healthcare workers on the frontlines battling flu and COVID-19. Our Surgical N95 Respirators are made to protect frontline workers from airborne illnesses, which is why the form, fit, and comfort of our respirators are of paramount importance.”
Owens & Minor’s HALYARD* FLUIDSHIELD* Surgical N95 Respirators are:
• 100% Medical Grade: While the FDA has granted temporary emergency use authorization for some industrial-grade N95s, HALYARD* FLUIDSHIELD* Surgical N95 Respirators are designed and manufactured in accordance with our own FDA cleared 510(k).
• Made in the Americas, from Base Material to Finished Respirator: Unlike suppliers who rely on sources from Asia, all HALYARD* FLUIDSHIELD* Surgical N95s are manufactured in the Americas.
• Highest Level of Protection: All HALYARD* FLUIDSHIELD* Respirators deliver Level 3 splash and spray protection—the highest recognized level of protection.
• Specially Designed for Medical Staff and Essential Workers: The duckbill breathing chamber is more than twice as large as the leading surgical N95 respirator and exceeds NIOSH standards for breathability. Because proper snug fit is critical, HALYARD-brand N95s come in a range of sizes, with malleable nose wire to adjust fit. They have strong elastic straps that are securely bonded—not stapled—to the mask.
• Reliably Supplied Every Day: With manufacturing investment and end-to-end control of its entire supply chain, Owens & Minor has been able to ramp up N95 production to consistently exceed customer historical usage levels even during the pandemic.
Owens & Minor proactively engages with AAMI, NIOSH, and ASTM guideline panels to keep abreast of evolving standards and ensure the best protection provided by its products. The company holds over 30 patents in facial protection innovation.
As part of Owens & Minor’s continued efforts to keep our teammates and the communities we serve safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Earl G. Reubel Awards will not take place in 2020. Created by Owens & Minor in 2012, the Earl G. Reubel Awards recognize healthcare industry leaders — individuals and organizations — who advocate for diversity and inclusion within the healthcare supply chain.
The awards are given among three healthcare industry categories: Civic Leadership, Diversity Enterprise and Large Corporate Leadership. The awards are named in honor of the late Earl G. Reubel, who built Kerma Medical Products into one of the largest veteran-, minority-owned medical supply companies in the country, and one of Owens & Minor’s largest minority suppliers for over 30 years.
Owens & Minor aims to resume the annual awards once it is safe to do so in 2021, and encourages the community to look for further announcements regarding the nomination process for next year’s awards.
“Owens & Minor is committed to championing a diverse and inclusive healthcare supply chain,” said Dave Myers, SVP, Chief Procurement Officer, Owens & Minor. “We look forward to recognizing the next leader in the efforts around diversity and will continue to honors Earl G. Reubel’s impressive legacy with this award in years to come.”
Owens & Minor was recently awarded Premier Inc.’s Supplier Legacy Award. The award recognizes prominent suppliers for their commitment to delivering top value products and services that improve patient care.
The Supplier Legacy Award recognized Owens & Minor for its long-standing support of Premier members through exceptional local customer service and engagement, value creation through clinical excellence, and commitment to lower costs.
“These unprecedented times demand an even stronger connection between supply chain and clinical implementation and I salute the Owens & Minor teammates, who really earned this recognition,” said Edward A. Pesicka, President and Chief Executive Officer at Owens & Minor. “Owens & Minor places absolute priority in collaborating with and delivering for our customers but it’s the teammates who make it happen each and every day.”
Legacy Award winners have a tenure of more than three years as a Premier contracted supplier.
“Owens & Minor has supported Premier members for many years, offering valuable products and services that help to lower supply chain costs and improve operating efficiencies,” said David A. Hargraves, Senior Vice President, Supply Chain, Premier. “They’ve also supported alliance members during periods of increased need at a local level. We’re honored to recognize Owens and Minor as a Supplier Legacy Award recipient.”