Meet the Supply Chain Surety team

In mid-2021, the green light from Victoria’s then Health Minister Martin Foley MP for HSV to set up a supply chain surety function signalled an urgent need for a more centralised approach to managing supply chain issues.

Mid-pandemic, the focus was on providing rapid solutions to product shortages, including pharmaceuticals for COVID-19 patients.

“The pandemic meant that work had to be done very quickly. It accelerated everything,” says HSV Supply Chain Surety Director Kate Warren.

“Everyone involved was highly motivated to provide a swift response to ensure hospitals had what they needed.”

HSV’s Supply Chain Surety function has since evolved from working with a reactive focus to an expanded remit that includes medical devices and consumables as well as pharmaceuticals.

“We now spend about 30 per cent of our time firefighting while our main focus is on proactively identifying and mitigating risks,” says Kate.

“Our key project is the Critical Supply Register (CSR) and we’re also focused on expanding our team’s product knowledge and operational understanding through site visits with suppliers and health services.”

Since 2021, the Surety team has grown from one – commencing with Director Kate Warren – to nine dedicated specialists with end to end supply chain understanding and broad industry expertise.

Three team members have clinical backgrounds and a keen interest in patient care. Manager Paul Callahan and Administrative Coordinator Cara Blackhall are registered nurses, while HSV Clinical Product Advisor Steve Anderson, who works closely with the team, has 30 years of experience in clinical specialties including intensive care, emergency, burns and trauma.

Looking ahead, Kate says the focus for the 2023-24 financial year will be to work with HSV’s Logistics and Procurement teams as well as health services to operationalise the CSR, identify risks in key product categories and determine which specialist equipment and consumables HSV can bring under contract. The team will continue to work closely with the federal government and other states, and organisations such as the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

The team will harness its broad capability to meet these objectives. Key members bring decades of health sector experience, including Kate Warren who has spent 15 years in global pharmaceutical manufacturing and supply, both in Australia and overseas. Manager Paul Callahan has 37 years of experience in healthcare including as Head of Supply Operations – Procurement for a large private healthcare provider.

HSV Supply Chain Specialists Maria De Guzman, Manni Deol, Steve McIntyre and Natasha Jorgensen bring diverse experience in global supply chains, manufacturing and demand planning across the FMCG, pharmaceuticals and medical devices industries.

Internally, the team can also call upon the expertise of HSV’s GM International Freight Lalaka Gunasekera and Business Analyst Chris Ong who bring vital skills in data analysis and logistics.

Kate and the team are keen to hear from health services and clinicians who wish to discuss opportunities for improving the supply chain. Now that it’s possible to meet customers onsite, the team has been visiting health services and suppliers to hear their perspectives.

“We also want to say thank you. We’ve worked closely with many of these people during the pandemic and we didn’t get an opportunity to meet in person before,” she says.

If you would like to chat to the team about opportunities to improve supply issues across the state, please email Kate Warren at k.warren@healthsharevic.org.au.

Photo caption: Supply Chain Specialist Maria De Guzman, Supply Chain Surety Manager Paul Callahan, Administrative Coordinator Cara Blackhall, Supply Chain Specialist Manni Deol, Supply Chain Specialist Steven McIntyre, Supply Chain Specialist Natasha Jorgensen, Director Supply Chain Surety Kate Warren.