Children's Nebraska expands Medline partnership through Laboratory prime vendor agreement

Premier pediatric care provider sees value in integrating medical-surgical and lab supply chains

NORTHFIELD, Ill., Feb. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Medline today announced that Children's Nebraska, headquartered in Omaha, has expanded its partnership with Medline by awarding the healthcare supplier and manufacturer a laboratory prime vendor agreement. This new agreement is an extension of Medline's existing relationship with the healthcare provider in which Medline has been Children's Nebraska medical-surgical prime vendor since 2013.

Founded in Omaha in 1948 as Children's Memorial Hospital, the recently re-branded Children's Nebraska is the only full-service, pediatric hospital and medical center in the state, providing expertise in more than 50 pediatric specialty services to children across a five-state region and beyond. 

As part of the lab prime vendor agreement, Medline is providing a comprehensive portfolio of lab testing materials, consumables and equipment to Children's Nebraska main lab and its 20+ outreach specialty clinics. Medline also helps enable Children's Nebraska to more easily monitor key metrics, such as item utilization, contract compliance, price accuracy and spend by product categories.

Children's Nebraska lab division can now leverage Medline's logistics and warehousing capabilities to control next day deliveries to its lab facilities more seamlessly and with more transparency. In addition, Children's Nebraska hopes to lean into Medline expertise in lab capital as well as lab automation in the near future.

"We are pleased to be able to provide a holistic approach to medical-surgical and lab distribution," said Megan Schwellenbach, vice president of corporate sales in acute care at Medline. "Building off our long-standing partnership, we found efficiencies and value for both its acute and lab divisions, while helping Children's Nebraska streamline their supply chain."

Chris North, laboratory director at Children's Nebraska, cited Medline's consistency, level of service and an increasingly robust lab product portfolio as reasons for awarding Medline its lab prime vendor agreement.

"Switching lab prime vendors can be daunting," said North. "But the Medline team took the time to be sure our lab team was comfortable and confident about the shift."

Prior to finalizing the agreement, Medline analyzed lab product usage to determine where Children's Nebraska could improve efficiency without sacrificing Children's Nebraska quality of care or uprooting established team processes. Medline also organized a OneMedline event for Children's Nebraska to showcase Medline's lab portfolio and give Children's team members the chance to handle and learn more about Medline's lab product offering.

"One of the ways our new lab partnership with Medline immediately impacted our business was by helping us unlock additional cost efficiencies in a current high volume manufacturer relationship that was previously direct," said Lori Kirsch, director of supply chain at Children's Nebraska. "We look forward to many more wins like this together."

Learn how Medline tailors solutions across the entire continuum of care as a manufacturer and distributor by visiting www.medline.com/pages/supply-chain

About Children's Nebraska

Founded in 1948 as Children's Memorial Hospital, Children's Nebraska recently celebrated 75 years of serving Omaha and the surrounding community along with patients from across the region who travel to the distinguished provider for premier pediatric care. The mission of the independent, Joint Commission-accredited children's hospital and its network is to improve the life of every child through care, advocacy, research and education.

Among state-wide recognition and many honors, Children's Nebraska is a U.S. News & World Report "Best Children's Hospital" in pulmonary; is recognized for excellence in Nursing Quality Indicators for pediatric hospitals; and is an American Association of Critical-Care Nurses "Gold Beacon" Awardee.

About Medline

Medline is a healthcare company – a medical supply manufacturer, distributor, and solutions provider focused on improving the overall operating performance of healthcare. Partnering across the continuum of care, Medline helps providers to activate the clinical and supply chain resources needed to deliver their best care. With the agility to solve problems quickly and the scale to partner with providers for their sustained success, Medline is able to invest in its customers for the future and rapidly respond to a dynamically changing market with customized solutions.

Medline was most recently named to the Forbes America's Best Large Employers and America's Best Employers for Women lists, and was recognized for the 13th year by Chicago Tribune as a Top Workplace. Headquartered in Northfield, Ill., Medline has 36,500+ employees worldwide and operates in over 125 countries and territories. Learn more at medline.com.

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SOURCE Medline Industries, LP