ISSUE

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of Louisiana needed ventilators to distribute to healthcare facilities across the state. The Louisiana Department of Health was planning to purchase the ventilators from outside the state, unaware a local company had the capability to provide 1500 ventilators in Louisiana. Because of the pandemic, it was difficult for VieMed to communicate with the state.

STRATEGY

The Picard Group was able to expedite communication to key decision-makers at the Louisiana Department of Health and provide them with access to ventilators quickly with a Louisiana-based company. In turn, ventilators could be provided to hospitals without delay and costly markups. Working through the Public Health Emergency (PHE) order, VieMed and The Picard Group expedited typical procurement measures to deliver these life-saving devices to Louisiana citizens quickly.

RESULTS

VieMed obtained a contract with the Louisiana Department of Health to provide 1500 ventilators to the state, potentially saving hundreds of lives through an expedited timeline. Once COVID-19 case numbers began to decrease, the state realized they no longer had a large demand for ventilators but were still in contract with VieMed. In an act of corporate responsibility, VieMed allowed the state to decrease the volume of ventilators in their original agreement, saving millions of dollars.