(October 2020) – As I sit here to try and come up with a subject to talk about, it dawns on me that October has a pretty special week! It's a week dedicated to us! Those hard working Supply Chain experts! It doesn't matter if you are working at a large IDN or working in our rural hospitals. We all share the same responsibilities and concerns. And nothing could have ever prepared us for COVID-19 and showing all of us just how fragile our supply chains have become.

This is a subject we could talk about all day. What have we learned because of COVID-19 and what are our plans moving forward? And this answer will be different for all of us. As we each sit back and reflect on our lives and facilities since this past March, I think we all can say either "I need a vacation" or "I need a drink"!! But what we all must do is understand that it's important to take care of ourselves and our families. We each have most likely spent more time at work than at home. COVID-19 has most certainly reminded us how fragile life is and how important time spent with family is to each of us. We have come through one phase of the COVID's path and most of us are preparing for another phase for our rural communities. But, this time we are a bit more prepared.

I hope that you all know how special and important that you and your teams are to your facility, to your community and most importantly, to your families. I hope you have celebrated with your teams and that your facility has celebrated you!

I've copied a blurb from our intranet that celebrated our team here at Amberwell (formally Atchison Hospital). Our team had a week of lunches brought in to us from our community eating establishments. It was very nice to actually sit and have a meal (five of them) as a team all week. This is not the norm in our world!!!

Happy Supply Chain week to all of you! I hope 2021 is a year without a mask and replaced with smiles and hugs.
--Lisa Feil-Neavitt