Hospitals and health care facilities have had to deal with numerous shortages at various times caused by the coronavirus pandemic, including tests, personal protective equipment and even workers.
But now, pandemic effects a world away are leading to an "unprecedented" shortage of a very specific substance used in imaging.
A COVID-19 lockdown in China over the past several weeks has led to a shortage of intravenous contrast dyes that are used in CT scans and some other imaging tests.
GE Healthcare, which is the main supplier of the dyes, said in a letter last month that its plant in Shanghai was temporarily shut down because of the lockdown, leaving it short of supply and leading to the need for rationing.
The company said last week that some production has restarted at the Shanghai plant and it also has shifted some of the work to a plant in Ireland, but it does not expect to be back at full production until late June.
That has health care facilities looking at ways to conserve their supplies and hoping they don't run out.
"We're hoping that we can make it through the next two months," said Georgia Blobaum, director of operations at Lincoln-based Advanced Medical Imaging.
Blobaum said the facility has not had to cancel or postpone any procedures yet, but its clinical committee will be meeting soon to discuss the issue and what potential changes could be made to conserve supplies.
She said some of the options that might be considered include using less contrast dye for some tests, postponing nonemergency scans and doing more scans that don't require the contrast dye.
Blobaum said the company also is looking at finding other vendors.
"It's definitely put a huge burden on imaging as a whole for radiology and cardiology," she said.
So far, no other facilities in Lincoln have reported any concerns.
A spokesman for Bryan Health said it gets IV contrast dyes from multiple vendors and as of yet has "not seen a disruption in our ability to perform these scans because of the shortage."
"Our team is working diligently with vendors to continue on this path and prevent an impact to our patients," said Brad Colee, the Bryan spokesman.
A spokeswoman for CHI Health, which owns St. Elizabeth and Nebraska Heart Hospital in Lincoln, said it is not currently experiencing supply issues with IV contrast dyes and "does not anticipate any issues in the foreseeable future."
But Blobaum said she knows there are other facilities in the area having supply issues.
"We've already had offices and hospitals calling us to ask if they can borrow," she said.
The health system, which owns Lincoln hospitals St. Elizabeth and Nebraska Heart, had originally termed the attack on its parent company as an…
A shortage of IV contrast dye used in CT scans and some other medical imaging has facilities conserving supply and hoping they won't have to delay or cancel procedures.