3 days ago
Owens & Minor partners with WVU Health System to open medical distribution center
MORGANTOWN, (WBOY) — A grand opening was held on Monday to introduce the community to Owens & Minor's new state-of the-art medical distribution center, in partnership with WVU Health System and the state of West Virginia.
According to President and CEO Ed Pesicka, the facility is going to support the WVU Health System in Morgantown, along with the entire state and the surrounding region.
Pesicka told 12 News that by the end of the year, the center plans to hire about 100 new teammates. 'So it's bringing back additional jobs to the area,' he added. 'And [we're] really excited to have this long-term partnership that we've put together with WVU Health.'
WVU Health System President and Chief Executive Officer Albert Wright said they began working with Owens & Minor a few years ago, when in search of a new partner for medical supplies and distribution. According to Wright, it was very important for WVU Health System to have a distribution center that's headquartered in West Virginia to serve them and surrounding partners while also bringing jobs and economic development to the region.
'It is just a beautiful facility,' said Wright. 'Employing a lot of folks and kind of building towards our mission of improving the health trajectory of the state of West Virginia and the surrounding areas that we serve.'
According to Wright, Owens & Minor is a Fortune 500 company that operates on a national scale. 'For them to you know, see a partner in us — that they were willing to build a facility here in West Virginia to make sure we always have the medical supplies we need and that they're able to easily travel the rugged terrain we have in West Virginia to make sure our network of hospitals and care points around the state are being taken care of, I think that's a pretty big commitment on their part,' he added.
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Pesicka stated that the partnership between Owens & Minor, WVU Health System and the state of West Virginia has been in place for the past several years. He added that a distribution center of this size (350,000 sq. feet) with this amount of technology takes a little bit of time, but that they were excited to finally be opening things up on Monday.
'It's around making sure we have products close to the point of care,' said Pesicka. 'Whether it's a clinician or a surgeon, that they can have the product quickly of what they need and always have what they need, and it's gonna help healthcare in the region.'
According to Pesicka, Owens & Minor's purpose is 'Life Takes Care' and the company takes that to heart. 'We wanna make sure that we have the products, the ability to service our customer, which is really the clinician and the patient,' he added. 'And that's really what our focus is on this.'
According to Wright, the availability of medical supplies was something that many people took for granted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was significantly challenged during that time. 'One of our guiding principles coming out of COVID was to make sure we had a supplier and partner with reserves that were focused on West Virginia, and I think this facility and this partnership solves that,' he added.
Wright told 12 News that the vast majority of WVU Health System's medical supplies will come from Owens & Minor through this new distribution center. Some of the items that will be produced include custom surgical packs, gowns, and personal protective equipment (PPE).
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