UnityPoint Health Board of Directors - Quad Cities recently issued the following announcement.
Blue overlay of world map; UnityPoint Health News graphic
UnityPoint Health® is among 12 health systems representing approximately 250 hospitals across the United States that have joined Civica Rx as founding members.
Civica Rx was established in 2018 by three philanthropies and seven leading health systems that experience first-hand the impact of drug shortages, which are increasingly common and affect all aspects of health care delivery. The highly-collaborative initiative will result in lower costs and more predictable supplies of many medicines, helping ensure patients and their needs come first in the generic drug marketplace. Civica Rx members drive drug selection decisions to ensure Civica Rx manufactures medications most essential to patient care.
“UnityPoint Health is proud to partner with Civica Rx and other mission-driven healthcare organizations committed to ensuring high quality, affordable medications are available when patients need them,” stated Kent Lehr, vice president of strategy and business development at UnityPoint Health. “Drug shortages and the resulting price increases are becoming increasingly challenging for hospitals, including ours, and we believe our membership with Civica is another way we can improve the quality, safety and cost of care for the people and communities we serve.”
“We are thrilled to welcome UnityPoint Health and the other highly-regarded health systems to Civica as founding members,” said Martin VanTrieste, CEO of Civica Rx. “Drug shortages have become a national crisis where patient treatments and surgeries are canceled, delayed or suboptimal. We thank these organizations for joining us to make essential generic medicines accessible and affordable in hospitals across the country.”
Civica Rx expects to bring over 14 hospital-administered generic drugs to hospitals and health care systems in 2019 as the initial focus of the company’s efforts, with many additional medications prioritized by the healthcare systems as the next phase of focus. The company is working towards becoming an FDA approved manufacturer and will either directly manufacture generic drugs or sub-contract manufacturing to trusted supply partners.
Together with UnityPoint Health, the 12 new founding members also include: Advocate Aurora Health, Allegheny Health Network, Baptist Health South Florida, Franciscan Alliance, Memorial Hermann Health System, NYU Langone Health, Ochsner Health System, Sanford Health, Spectrum Health, St. Luke’s University Health Network and Steward Health Care.
Founding members join the original members of Civica Rx, which include Catholic Health Initiatives, the Gary and Mary West Foundation, HCA Healthcare, Intermountain Healthcare, Laura & John Arnold Foundation, Mayo Clinic, the Peterson Center on Healthcare, Providence St. Joseph Health, SSM Health and Trinity Health.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up