In today’s healthcare landscape, supply chain resilience has never been more critical. Disruptions are now a daily reality, and the stakes—patient care, operational efficiency, and financial sustainability—couldn’t be higher. For leaders at major health systems, the question is no longer if they need to invest in building supply chain resilience, but how.
We sat down with René Gurdián, Assistant Vice President of Supply Chain Finance and Strategy, and Kyle Simnick, Director of Supply Chain Data Governance and Resiliency at Ochsner Health to hear their firsthand experience building supply chain resilience through strategic technology adoption and operational transformation.
You can watch the full discussion at the bottom of this article.
The perception of supply chain within healthcare organizations has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past five years. As René explained, while supply chain was once viewed mainly as a cost center, the pandemic and ongoing disruptions have highlighted its role as a critical enabler of both operational continuity and revenue generation. He noted that during a disruption, most stakeholders see the disrupted supplies as an asset instead of an expense, and that cultivating that mindset beyond disruptions is key. This shift in perspective, from viewing inventory as an expense to recognizing it as a strategic asset during disruptions, has become central to modern healthcare supply chain strategy.
“Every disruption, in my opinion, is another opportunity that shows, one, the importance of supply chain and, two, the integral nature that all of our roles and all of our positions—buyers, technicians, analysts—play in ensuring operational care and delivering innovation.”
René Gurdián, Assistant Vice President of Supply Chain Finance and Strategy at Ochsner Health
For Ochsner Health, the realization that traditional reactive approaches were insufficient came into sharp focus during Hurricane Helene and the subsequent IV fluid disruption.
The challenge was stark: while supply chain leaders could provide directional data suggesting three to five days of critical products in supply closets, precise visibility into perpetual inventory was limited.
“We started to see that we weren't able to keep up with the changes in fluctuations in the market. And it really was a call to action from a supply chain perspective to look at technology partners... There was no way for us to do this without a centralized command center."
Kyle Simnick, Director of Supply Chain Data Governance and Resiliency at Ochsner Health
For health system leaders facing pressure to justify investment in supply chain resilience, Ochsner’s approach centered on both hard and soft metrics:
In addition, the downstream impacts of a disruption are often times not clearly tracked.
“That alternative product that you’re bringing into those inventories, is it set up in your ERP? Can accounting track this? There’s a lot of downstream impacts that go back to the CFOs and ultimately impact what they’re looking at,” said Kyle. "At the end of the day, if you can’t react to disruptions in time, you may be able to find an alternative, but is that an alternative that’s best for your clinicians? Is it the most optimal product that’s out there to be able to provide patient care at the level that your system needs to provide it? And I think that really, for us, was a game changer."
Implementing Clarium has transformed Ochsner’s day-to-day operations:
"Clarium really has become our true north. Every day when we walk into work, we know exactly what disruptions we need to focus on, where our resources need to be allocated. Where previously, you’re kind of flying blind, and in the market today you just can’t do that."
Kyle Simnick, Director of Supply Chain Data Governance and Resiliency at Ochsner Health
Ochsner Health's journey offers several critical lessons for healthcare supply chain leaders: