Northwest Supply Chain Celebrates Over $20 Million in Savings

The Northwest Supply Chain (NSC), located at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) is celebrating nearly five years of successes. There is a lot to celebrate.

The NSC collaboration was established in 2011 as a joint venture sponsored by the Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Care Group to provide a central supply chain to member organizations.
Since then, expectations have been exceeded at every turn. “While this collaboration has seen many successes, I have to stress the outstanding financial benefits. We have projected savings of $6.9 million this year, and a cumulative savings of $21.1 million to date,” said Cindy Gasparini, NSC Chair. “Even better – our targeted savings over ten years are $30.6 million. To garner such significant savings is amazing because that money can then be reinvested back into patient care, which is the most important thing and the reason we are all here today.”

“This collaboration is an excellent example of the direction the province is supporting in terms of driving systemic efficiencies,” explains Jean Bartkowiak, President & CEO, TBRHSC. “The North West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) has highlighted the importance of realizing cost savings to meet the increasing demand for health services with existing budgets. The NSC accomplishes that by helping us to procure needed health products at discounted prices.”

The NSC provides and manages a consolidated, strategic approach to sourcing to achieve value driven outcomes, standardization and quality health care for patients and clients. “Our Strategic focus is quite broad in that we cover all goods, services and capital equipment requirements for our members. We also provide distribution services, data management, clinical product consultation and education, and post contract administration,” said Derek Gascoigne, General Manager, NSC.

Members hospitals include: Atikokan General Hospital, Dryden Regional Health Centre, Geraldton District Hospital, Lake of the Woods District Hospital (Kenora), Manitouwadge General Hospital, McCausland Hospital (Terrace Bay), Wilson Memorial General Hospital (Marathon), Nipigon District Memorial Hospital, Red Lake Margaret Cochenour Hospital, Riverside Healthcare Facilities Inc. (Fort Frances), Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre, St. Joseph’s Care Group, and the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. External customers include the Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute, Northwest Health Alliance, Northwest CCAC, Norwest Community Health Centre, Lakehead University, Confederation College and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

“The NSC is proof of how powerful collaboration and partnerships can be,” says Scott Potts, Vice President, Infrastructure & Planning and Chief Financial Officer, St Joseph’s Care Group, and Past NSC Chair. “St. Joseph’s Care Group is proud to work in collaboration with the Health Sciences Centre, and all members and customers on this initiative. By working together, we have achieved far greater levels of success than we could have independently.”

For smaller hospitals, the collective buying power of the NSC has been of particular benefit. “For every dollar we pay in membership fees, we see a return of $7.10. In the current financial climate, this has a significant impact for us and other smaller hospitals,” explains Angie Bishop, CEO, Red Lake Memorial Hospital. Smaller hospitals have also benefitted from NSC’s expertise for remaining compliant with Broader Public Sector Directives and risk mitigation within contract management.

To learn more about the Northwest Supply Chain, please visit www.tbrhsc.net/nsc

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