challenges facing her system ’ s supply chain and the effect the disruptions had on inventory and the resulting patient care . The consolidated service center at the heart of that initial RFP process with Medline , which certainly was faced with far more interruptions and reexaminations than might have happened without COVID — went live on January 3 , 2023 , just a month or so prior to sitting down with Webb-Hapgood , and so far , everything has gone incredibly smooth .
Initial challenges One of the reasons that UW Health chose to partner with Medline in the first place was because they knew Medline ’ s experience and success setting up inventory warehouses and distribution centers . And it all started with the RFP for distribution services . UW Health ’ s incumbent contract was ending , and their RFP included “ support services center ”— what was to become the JWSS ( John Walls Support Services Center ).
As with most implementation goals that were set before the pandemic , COVID had an impact on how fast the team was able to move forward with the distribution center . Webb-Hapgood considers this a good thing . In the end , it allowed both sides to pause and reassess other areas that UW Health needed help with and how Medline could partner with them effectively to take on the multitude of challenges and overcome supply chain and product availability obstacles that arose at every corner . Even the racking equipment for the warehouse itself
proved a challenge to obtain . Through all of this , however , UW Health was confident they had made the right decision . After all , they had never before attempted to outfit an entire distribution warehouse , and Medline — with its experience and agility — was able to help them plan , get permits , establish safety guidelines , outfit and bring in the inventory . Maybe not in the time they had originally hoped , but still a success given the hurdles of the pandemic , including a building that was leased and used for COVID testing that would soon become the new site for inventory .
As Steve Mumm , Senior Project Manager for Planning , Design and Construction at UW Health ’ s JWSS , puts it , “ If UW Health had done all of this on its own , it would
10 SUPPLY CHAIN OPTIMIZATION